Poll of Labour Councillors conducted for BBC's The Daily Politics published 28 September 2009.
Date Published: 27 Sep 2009
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Description
Labour activists back Alan Johnson to be Labour leader were Gordon Brown to stand down, according to a survey of Labour Party activists.
In the survey, conducted for BBC2's Daily Politics programme by ComRes, Alan Johnson was backed by 32% of Labour Councillors to succeed Gordon Brown were he to stand down. In second place with 18% was Jon Cruddas, with 12% of councillors backing David Miliband.
However, the majority of those councillors surveyed thought that replacing Gordon Brown before the next election would either make the Party's electoral prospects worse (25%) or make no difference (36%). Just under a third (31%) of those councillors surveyed felt the Labour Party's prospects would improve if they changed their leader.
The survey also shows that the majority of Labour Party activists believe the recent expenses scandal will harm their electoral prospects. 53% of those surveyed say it will damage their chances locally compared with 36% who think it will not.
The survey was conducted for BBC2's Daily Politics programme by ComRes who interviewed 321 Labour Councillors in England and Wales by online surveys between 2nd and 24th September 2009.
Full Results:
LABOUR
Q1. Do you think your party's role in the MPs expenses scandal has damaged you locally in terms of your MPs' or candidates' chances of being elected?
Yes 53%
No 36%
Don't know 11%
Q2. If Labour were to change leader before the next election what if anything do you think it would mean for the party's electoral prospects?
Improve 31%
Stay the same 36%
Get worse 25%
Don't know 7%
Q3. If Gordon Brown were to stand down as Labour leader who would you prefer to take over?
Andy Burnham 2%
Jon Cruddas 18%
Harriet Harman 5%
Alan Johnson 32%
David Miliband 12%
James Purnell 1%
Jack Straw 2%
Hazel Blears 0%
Tony Blair 2%
None of these 15%
Don't know 10%