Sunday Mirror February 2017 By-Election Survey

Online survey of the general public on behalf of the Sunday Mirror on public perceptions of the Labour party.

A third of the public overall (31%) say they would be more likely to vote Labour if the Party was not led by Jeremy Corbyn, compared to just 10% who would be less likely.

Across all age groups, genders and GB regions, voters would be more likely to vote Labour under a different leader than would be less likely to do so.

Of those who would currently vote for any party other than Labour, 31% would be more likely to support Labour if Jeremy Corbyn were not leader, compared to only 7% who would be less likely.

57% of Lib Dem voters and 24% of UKIP voters would be more likely to vote Labour if the Party ditched Corbyn.

Even 34% of Labour voters say they would be more likely to support the Party with a different leader (while 19% of Labour voters say this would make them less likely to). However, half (51%) say this would make no difference.

The most popular alternative leader to Corbyn would be Sadiq Khan, for whom 19% overall would be more likely to vote Labour but 23% would be less likely to. Second is Hilary Benn whose impact would broadly be neutral with as many being put off voting Labour as being more inclined to.

However, among those potentially important Liberal Democrat voters, the most popular alternative Labour leader is Sadiq Khan who appeals to 47% of Lib Dems. Other popular choices would be Hilary Benn (40%), Tony Blair (34%) and Chuka Umunna (36%).

Among Conservative voters, Hilary Benn is the most popular, with 17% saying that his leadership would make them more likely to vote Labour. At the other end of the scale just 2% of Conservative voters say that John McDonnell as leader would make them more likely to vote Labour and 4% say the same of Diane Abbott.

Among all non-Labour voters overall, the prize for most popular alternative leader is shared between Hilary Benn and Sadiq Khan, both of whom would attract 18%, although Hilary Benn would put fewer voters off than Sadiq Khan would.

The voter verdict on the Labour Party more generally is damning – around six in ten believe it does not have the right policies (56%) or the right leader (62%) to win the next Election, and a similar proportion believe Labour has lost touch with the working classes (59%).

Among non-Labour voters the judgment is even harsher – 77% do not believe the Party has the right leader and 73% do not believe it has the right policies while 71% of this group believe Labour has lost touch with the working classes.

Another factor putting off potential Labour voters is that the Party is seen to be too left-wing, in contrast to Dennis Skinner’s tweet today that ‘the glaring lesson to be learnt from yesterday’s results is that (Labour) isn’t left wing enough to motivate the electorate’. In contrast to that claim, half of non-Labour voters (49%) believe the Party to be too left-wing, while only 17% do not agree. Significantly perhaps, some 44% of Lib Dem voters – and even one in five Labour voters (18%) – also agree that the Party has become too left-wing.

Pointing to the future, 42% of non-Labour voters say they would be more inclined to vote Labour ‘if it appealed more to people’s aspiration and ambition’, including 53% of Lib Dem voters, 40% of Conservatives and 43% of current Labour voters.

There is little appetite for a snap election now: only 30% agree that Theresa May should call one, whereas 41% disagree. The party whose voters are most enthusiastic for an early election are Labour supporters (43%).

Date Published: 26/02/2017

Categories: Elections | Politics | Public and communities | Public Sector | UK

Client: Sunday Mirror

Methodology

ComRes interviewed 1,047 adults online on the 24th February 2017. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults by region, gender and age.