Pre-conference blow for Jeremy Corbyn as poll shows just one in four Brits praise his leadership
2 min read
Just a quarter of Britons think Jeremy Corbyn is doing a good job as Labour leader, according to a new poll released on the eve of his fourth party conference in the top job.
His support among the public, as well as among the Labour faithful, has plunged in a year, the Ipsos MORI survey for the Evening Standard found.
It comes after weeks of Labour infighting over whether an internationally recognised definition of anti-Semitism should be pasted into the party code of conduct.
Mr Corbyn was resistant to including the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition in full in the Labour rulebook - but after a summer of wrangling was forced to back down.
Just 24% of the general public told Ipsos MORI the Labour leader was doing a good job, down from 42% in October last year.
Meanwhile only 48% of Labour supporters said the same, down from 71% a year ago.
Two thirds of the public said they do not like Mr Corbyn, compared with 48% last year, while the number who say they like him has dropped from 46% last September to 32% this month.
One in three said they like Labour but dislike Mr Corbyn, up from one in five a year ago.
And 37% said the Labour leader would make a better prime minister than Theresa May, compared with 46% who said the opposite.
Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said “Labour’s brand as the party of the heart is as strong as ever. And dissatisfaction with the Government is high.
“But the gains Jeremy Corbyn made over the election campaign in his public image have fallen away over the last year.”
He added: “Labour supporters are still attached to the party, but no longer feel quite the same affection for its leader.”
Meanwhile, a separate survey by YouGov on behalf of the People's Vote campaign showed a shift in Labour policy to support a second Brexit referendum would potentially be worth an extra 1.55 million votes and 60 seats for the party.
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