Blow for Jeremy Corbyn as poll finds his public satisfaction ratings at record low
2 min read
Jeremy Corbyn has suffered a blow as a major poll revealed his leadership rating has plummeted to its worst level amid major Labour rows over Brexit and anti-semitism.
Just 17% of voters said they are satisfied with the Labour leader, down from 27% in December.
Meanwhile, 72% told pollsters Ipsos MORI that they are dissatisfied with his performance, giving him an overall rating of minus 55. By contrast, Theresa May's net satisfaction rating was minus 25, a drop of of three percentage points.
The figures were published in the Evening Standard against a backdrop of bitter Labour splits among MPs over the direction the party is taking under Mr Corbyn.
Many Labour MPs are angry over their leader's approach to Brexit after he wrote to Theresa May outlining what she must do to secure his backing for a deal.
Meanwhile, MPs and peers this week urged the leadership to do more to tackle anti-Semitism in the party during a fractious meeting, re-opening the long-standing row about anti-Jewish racism among some of its members.
The poll found that 44% of Labour supporters said they were happy with Mr Corbyn, compared with 46% who said they were dissatisfied - giving him his first net-minus rating among party members since the 2017 general election.
However, both parties remained neck and neck on 38% - unchanged since December.
Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos MORI, said: “Sometimes in our trends when one leader is down another is in the ascendant, but that isn’t the case now.
“While 2017 showed Jeremy Corbyn can out-campaign Theresa May, at the moment, despite her difficulties, his public ratings are falling even further behind.”
A separate YouGov poll yesterday showed that 19% of voters think Mr Corbyn would make the best Prime Minister, compared to 40% for Mrs May. However, a total of 39% said they did not know.
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