KEIR Starmer has been branded "inept" after a poll found that a majority of Labour members do not believe their party will win the next UK General Election.
Of the Labour members asked, almost one-fifth (19%) said it was “very unlikely” that their party would win the next Westminster election. Almost half (46%) said that a Labour victory was “fairly unlikely”.
As such, the total number of Labour members who considered it “unlikely” that their party would win the next election (65%) is more than treble the number who think the opposite.
Just 18% of those asked think it is “fairly likely” Labour will win the next election, and just 3% thinking it is “very likely”.
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In the wake of the poll’s findings, the SNP warned that Scotland was facing years longer under the rule of a government it did not vote for.
Rona Mackay MSP said: “Keir Starmer has been so inept as Labour leader that not even his own party members think he is capable of leading Labour to victory in the next General Election.
“Even with the Tories being mired in sleaze and scandal, Keir Starmer still cannot hope to topple them. That means that, without independence, Scotland is set for another decade of a Tory government we did not vote for.
“It would also mean Scotland is subjected to a Tory government that is threatening the powers of our Scottish Parliament and the future of Scotland’s NHS.”
The poll also found that 69% of Labour members think Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham (above) would make a better leader than Starmer.
Despite that, 54% think Starmer should stay on as leader. This drops slightly to 48% should Labour lose the Batley and Spen by-election being held on July 1.
If Labour should lose, 41% of the members asked think Starmer should step down.
A story in The Times said deputy leader Angela Rayner’s allies were preparing a leadership challenge should this happen – but Rayner said it was “news to me”.
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Won by Labour in the 2019 General Election, the constituency is expected to go to the Tories after Paul Halloran, a candidate from “Heavy Woollen District Independents”, pulled out.
Nearly all of the 6400 votes Halloran won in 2019 are expected to go to the Tory party, which trailed Labour by around 3500 in the last election.
George Galloway, having apparently given up on his All for Unity in Scotland, is running for his “Workers Party” and is expected to further hit the Labour vote.
Labour has been approached for comment.
YouGov polled 871 Labour party members between June 22 and June 29, 2021.
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