55 per cent of those questioned feel that the Labour Party does not respect or understand the views of its voters
Last week the Westminster bubble was electrified by the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn taking over as Labour leader in September, after a YouGov poll put him in the lead.
But before ballot papers arrive on the door mats of party members and supporters next month, they would do well to consider YouGov’s polling published yesterday for the Sunday Times.
It looked at the views of the public at large, rather than just party members – the very same public who will ultimately determine if the party gets back into Downing Street – and proves sobering reading for all concerned.
Firstly, 36 per cent of those questioned now have a more negative view of the party as a result of the way it has conducted itself since the election, with just 4 per cent saying they felt more positively towards it.
On the question of which leadership candidate would make it more likely that the public would vote Labour, the results show a complete lack of enthusiasm for any of them.
Jeremy Corbyn comes out on top, with 12 per cent saying they would be more likely to vote Labour if he was leader. 9 per cent said the same about Andy Burnham, 8 per cent about Liz Kendall and 7 per cent about Yvette Cooper.
The majority of voters simply concluded that it would not make a difference to them who was leader, or that they did not know enough about the candidates. The sense of ‘could not care less’ is palpable and worrying.
Asked about their attitude to the direction Ed Miliband took the party in, 27 per cent argued that he took it too far to the left, with 21 per cent telling YouGov that he did not take the party to the left enough. Just 13 per cent said Miliband got the direction about right, whilst 39 per cent were not sure.
Interestingly though, looking at where the party should go in the future, 26 per cent thought the party needed to move further to the left and 27 per cent thought it needed to become less left wing.
60 per cent of those questioned concluded that Labour is unlikely to win the 2020 General Election, a view shared privately by many in the parliamentary Labour party. More worryingly still, 55 per cent of those questioned felt that the Labour Party does not respect or understand the views of its voters.
YouGov went on to ask those polled about their attitudes towards Labour’s stance on welfare reform which caused such difficulties for Harriet Harman. 38 per cent of respondents argued that the party should have simply opposed the government’s changes to benefits, 34 per cent said it should have supported them.
For those wanting more numbers, Ipsos Mori’s political monitor for the month finds that 27 per cent of those questioned feel Andy Burnham has what it takes to be a good prime minister, ahead of Yvette Cooper about whom 22 per cent of voters felt this way. 17 per cent said the same about Jeremy Corbyn, and 16 per cent about Liz Kendall.
Voters were also asked which of David Cameron’s potential successors has what it takes to be a good prime minister. Among the public Boris Johnson has a clear lead – 32 per cent say he has what it takes, followed by 28 per cent who say the same about Theresa May and 23 per cent about George Osborne.
Among Conservative supporters the race is much closer, with 47 per cent saying Boris has what it takes to make a good prime minister and 45 per cent saying the same about George Osborne and Theresa May.
Ed Jacobs is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter
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16 Responses to “Regardless of who becomes leader, the polls look bad for Labour”
stevep
I`m not surprised people don`t feel Labour respects or understands the needs of voters.
It doesn`t respect or understand itself.
Pardon me if I`m a bit thick, but it says it on the tin: “LABOUR”. Set up by and for the working people of Britain.
If Labour still stands for working people, then let`s have policies for working people. let`s think Social Democracy and people power.
Or do Labour think working people don`t really mind Poor wages, high rents, lack of affordable housing, the bedroom tax, payday lenders, food banks etc. etc. which are the inevitable fruits of Capitalism.
Have many Labour MP`s actually worked in factories, offices, transport etc. on the shop floor? or have they mostly gone from University into arses-on-seats jobs and then into politics?
If Labour demonstrates support for working people, then it will get votes from working people.
if it doesn’t, we might have to start a political party that does.
Lesley1
The fact that so many see Idle Boris as a good leader, shows that many of the people interviewed are morons
Martyn Wood-Bevan
I’m glad that most teachers were graduates, not just your ordinary man/woman in the street – where would we have got. Economics is not a simple thing and most people don’t really understand the field. Maybe it’s time we had a different name as “Labour`’ does not imply a “One Nation” approach.
stevep
Teachers are great, as are most professionals. Yes, they have more knowledge than the man in the street, but can they impart that knowledge, in a simple way, to the wider populace?
The Tories did, and do, with simplified household economic speak. It`s not relevant to the wider economics of Britain, but it`s widely accepted.
The Tragedy of Labour is that they have never counteracted it with equal simplicity.
Gary Hills
This nonsense that if you are not hard left in the party then you do not care is just that. This is not 1910. Why Labour was created then has no resemblance on what the public think and feel about politics today. And it makes not a jot of difference what principles people have if they can never be elected. Political views evolve all the time because its the wider public that sets them. Get out of step with them too much and the people you do not want to have power will have it.
Contrary to the believe Labour under Labour never ignored working people, in fact Blair achieve more for working people then any other Labour leader. He achieved because he was in the centre and therefore society as a whole was backing the balanced direction he took. By that it means he has messages that help all in society. Which he summed up nicely, for the many not the few,
Now there is nothing wrong with that approach and its needed again. The wider public do not have tribalism to vote for Labour any more, there is more competition for votes and Labour cannot win by just appealing to one section of society.
Its not enough to shout from the sidelines at the Tories which is all Corbyn will do, you have to win to Govern to make a difference to improves peoples lot in life. Labour will never do that with policy’s the wider public disagrees with or thinks are extreme and they wont see Corbyn as a potential PM so they wont vote for him.