Corbyn made a Scottish Labour recovery a key goal. How's that going?
Amid a flurry of polls all pointing to disaster for Labour without a change of course, the picture in Scotland is a complete disaster.
In August of last year during the last leadership contest, Jeremy Corbyn identified a recovery in Scotland as one of his key goals. For all the efforts put in by Kezia Dugdale north of the border, the evidence is that despite the rhetoric, Corbyn has become a handicap to Labour’s chances of a Scottish revival.
YouGov polling has given Corbyn a net approval rating across Scotland of -36, and -47 among 2015 Labour voters. Among 2015 Labour voters, just 19 per cent think he is doing well – a fall of 14 points since early May.
His national numbers are, YouGov notes ‘boosted by the fact that more SNP voters (31 per cent) think he is doing well than Labour voters.’ Behind Corbyn, Kezia Dugdale has a net approval rating of -15.
Contrast that with Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson, who has a net approval rating of +31 and Nicola Sturgeon with a net approval rating of +34.
Theresa May meanwhile enjoys a considerable leads when voters in Scotland were asked about key characteristics. 66 per cent see her as strong; 62 per cent say she is competent and 53 per cent say that she is in control.
The new Prime Minister has commanding leads in key characteristics – she is seen as strong by 66 per cent.
The only area in which May performs poorly is on likeability, with more people thinking she is dislikeable (35 per cent vs 30 per cent).
With figures like these, it’s no wonder that Owen Smith has raised concerns about Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to engage in the arguments about national identify in Scotland, Wales and England which are so vital to the future of the United Kingdom as it currently stands.
Ed Jacobs is a contributing editor at Left Foot Forward
See: Nearly a third of Labour voters prefer Theresa May to Jeremy Corbyn
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14 Responses to “Jeremy Corbyn’s approval ratings hit the floor in Scotland”
Dave Armstrong
Peter – the Scottish people decided by 55/45 that their “needs, aspirations and priorities” would not be served by the SNP and its very own “dodgy dossier” AKA their White Paper. Socialists value internationalism before nationalism, so we care about people struggling in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as in Scotland. Re the Scottish elections, it should be pointed out that Labour actually came second in constituency votes, ahead of the Conservatives, and won 3 of them, so not a complete wipeout as some commentators suggested.
uglyfatbloke
The tories hardly improved their vote at all, it’s just that Labour did so very badly.
Arthurfaeleith
Dave Armstrong – if socialists value internationalism before nationalism, how do you square that with Labour’s British nationalism? Is it like your own? Where you pretend it doesn’t exist? Why does your concern for the workers not extend to Dublin? Or France? Or China? Why is it that only Scots need to subjugate themselves to Westminster rule? Why not the Irish? Why not the French?
Roddy Lonie
Peter A Bell. If you’re logic is correct and Labour ‘signed its own death warrant’ when it went into alliance with the Tories, then why no reaction when the SNP were in a de facto coalition with the Tories for….well most of my lifetime, but more recently 2007-11(http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/10/alex-salmond-hypocrisy-former-scottish-tories-leader-annabel-goldie) to carry through a series of measures that reduce govt income and ease life for the middle class at the expense of the most vulnerable. (Prescription charges, bridge tolls, CT freeze, tuition fees)…..and of course the most recent example where by the Tories and the SNP stood to vote down progressive amendments on taxation for public services? There is more to being on the left than rhetorical attacks on the Toories!
I think you may be correct that Labour are in dire straits north of the border, but I would remind you that social democratic parties are in serious crisis all over Europe. Scotland has now followed England to the center right, the dreaded Toories are now the official opposition and on the march, the SNP are a caught on a hook, the neo-liberal wet dream of ‘Scotland’s Future’ is now revealed as fantasy and the blame Westminster for everything routine is becoming an increasingly threadbare excuse for doing nothing. Anyone who thinks the SNP are a vehicle for radical change is simply deluded.