The Corbyn Suspension –The Voters Verdict

By any standards, the decision by the Labour leadership this week to suspend from the party its former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, over his response to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission report into the party’s response to anti-Semitism during his time as leader was a dramatic step.

According to some reports it led some of Corbyn’s more supportive MPs to consider leaving Labour to form a new party entirely. Len Mccluskey, leader of the Unite trade union meanwhile warned that the move risked the party facing defeat at the next general election. But what evidence is there to support such a statement? The answer is not very much.

Polling conducted by YouGov just after the news of Jeremy Corbyn’s suspension will embolden the party’s current leadership.

Asked to compare Keir Starmer to Jeremy Corbyn, 52% of respondents said that Starmer has been a better leader than Corbyn, with just 8% saying that Corbyn was a better leader. Among those who voted Labour at the 2019 election, 55% said Starmer was the better leader, with 18% opting for Corbyn.

Asked how well or badly Jeremy Corbyn had handled allegations of anti-Semitism, just 7% of all those who responded and 15% of Labour voters from 2019 said well, with 76% of all voters, and 72% of 2019 Labour voters saying badly.

In comparison, 39% of all respondents and 47% of 2019 Labour voters said Keir Starmer has handled well the issue of alleged anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. 22% of all respondents however said he has handled the issue badly, a view shared by 16% of those who voted Labour in 2019.

Worryingly for Labour, 30% of respondents said they felt the Labour Party was institutionally anti-Semitic, up from 28% who said the same about the party when YouGov asked the question last time in July.

32% of all respondents, but just 15% of 2019 Labour voters, said they felt Jeremy Corbyn was personally anti-Semitic.

Overall, 56% of all respondents, and 44% of those who voted Labour in 2019 felt that it was the right decision to suspend Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour Party. In contrast, 13% of all respondents, and 27% of 2019 Labour voters said it was the wrong decision.

Meanwhile, Ipsos Mori’s latest Political Monitor this week gave Labour a 5 percentage point lead over the Conservatives when those surveyed were asked for their voting intention for the next General Election. Labour were on 42% with the Conservatives on 37%.

Keir Starmer also enjoys a considerable personal advantage over Boris Johnson. Whilst the Labour leader has a net satisfaction rating of +15, the Prime Minister now has a net satisfaction rating of -26. Overall, satisfaction with the Government is on a net score of -31.

Asked how well certain individuals had handled the COVID-19 pandemic so far, the only individuals with net ‘well’ score were the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on +33, the Chief Medical Officer for England, Chris Whitty, on +29 and Keir Starmer on +11. Boris Johnson has a net score of -24 with the handling of the pandemic by the Government as a whole given a net score of -24. The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, was on -22.

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