JEREMY Corbyn’s popularity among the Labour grassroots has fallen, with two fifths wanting him to stand down as leader before the next General Election, according to a poll.
Confidence in his leadership has fallen by 24 points since March last year, with 43% of members saying he is doing a bad job amid growing dissatisfaction over his handling of Brexit and the anti Semitism crisis engulfing the party.
The YouGov poll found more than half of members are dissatisfied with the way in which the Labour leader has handled Brexit and one in four wants him to step down immediately. Seventy per cent say anti-Semitism is a “genuine” problem.
Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, has the most support to succeed him, with 68% of members saying he would make a “good” or “very good” leader. He is followed by John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, who has an approval rating of 64%, and Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, on 59%.
The poll for The Times came as Boris Johnson is expected to be elected the new Tory leader today and formally take over from Theresa May as PM tomorrow.
Corbyn, who was elected Labour leader in September 2015, has been the subject of opposition from many of his MPs but his support among members has stayed strong. He survived a leadership challenge in 2016, winning more than 60% of the members’ vote when standing against Owen Smith.
However, the online poll of 1100 Labour members carried out between July 17 to 19 found a growing dissatisfaction with his performance among those who used to support him. In March last year 74% of members said Corbyn should lead the party into the next General Election, a figure that has now fallen to 56%.
It also found the number of members who think he is doing “very badly” as leader has risen from 8% to 18%. The poll revealed it is Corbyn’s leadership rather than his policy agenda that is the cause for concern. More than 80% still think he has got the “right priorities for the country”.
The next few days will be critical for Corbyn, who is facing a revolt over his failure to agree to an independent complaints process to investigate claims of anti Semitism. He is due to appear today before Labour’s ruling national executive amid demands for a change in approach.
The poll’s findings also come amid anger over the expulsion of Baroness Armstrong. She was expelled by the North West Durham constituency party, after putting her name to a newspaper advert attacking Corbyn’s handling of anti Semitism allegations.
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