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PoliticsHome Polls

PoliticsHome Polls

Public opinion today

Abbott public choice for Labour leader

Diane Abbott is currently the candidate most voters would like to become Labour leader, according to new PoliticsHome research. She gained strong support among non Labour voters.

Diane Abbott is the public’s preferred choice as Labour leader, according to new PoliticsHome research.

The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, best known to many voters for her appearances on TV’s This Week, was the first choice of 19% of voters, putting her ahead of both Miliband brothers.

David was the choice of 18% of the public, while Ed gained the backing of 12%. 

Higher support among non Labour voters

Abbott gained strong backing among Conservative supporters (26%), Lib Dems (32%), and the non aligned (15%). 

Among Labour supporters, David Miliband remained the strong favourite, with a 31% share of the vote. 

Ed Miliband was in second place on 18%.  Abbott was backed by 9% of Labour supporters, level with Ed Balls and Andy Burnham. 

An element of rival parties choosing a leader with a perceived lower chance of winning a general election is likely to play a part in explaining this trend.  Equally, as an independently minded MP and TV personality, Abbott may well have a broader appeal than the other candidates.    

Miliband knocked off the top spot

The picture of the leadership contest has been shaken up since last week, when a previous PoliticsHome poll showed David Miliband backed by 21% of voters, with a clear lead over his nearest rivals. 

Public 'uninspired'

The electorate as a whole has been left cold by the range of declared candidates for the Labour leadership, with 62% saying they are 'uninspired'. Meanwhile, 29 per cent - almost one in three - say they are inspired.

These figures are almost reversed among Labour supporters. 59 per cent say they are inspired, but more than a third - 35 per cent - have been left uninspired.

PoliticsHome interviewed 1,057 adults by email from 21-24 May 2010.  Results are weighted by age, gender and political party identification to reflect the population of Great Britain. 

Leave a comment...

Jane

Of course those conservative voters who wish to have Ms Abbott as leader are thinking of their own political party. She would be a disaster - they know it! They are hoping that the Labour Party make the same mistakes as they did with their leaders and not become an electoral threat!!

Penny Drops

people not being objective and honest with pollsters? Never!!

Penny Drops

anyway, Ed Balls would be a far bigger disaster for Labour; just ask around! and only 8% of any party voted for him. I think there may be some objectivity in this, and given the support for a coalition and the Tories having had the first female Leader, maybe people feel it's time for a major party to have a Leader of Colour? And of course, whatever mistakes the ConDems have made with their leaders, none of them have been as bad as Foot, Kinnock or Brown!

Penny Drops
  • 18:10 |
  • 25 May 2010
  • 0

anyway, Ed Balls would be a far bigger disaster for Labour; just ask around! and only 8% of any party voted for him. I think there may be some objectivity in this, and given the support for a coalition and the Tories having had the first female Leader, maybe people feel it's time for a major party to have a Leader of Colour? And of course, whatever mistakes the ConDems have made with their leaders, none of them have been as bad as Foot, Kinnock or Brown!

barney
  • 09:59 |
  • 26 May 2010
  • 0

it dosnt matter what lib dems and troies think it about the labour party where she does not have the most support

barney
  • 09:59 |
  • 26 May 2010
  • 0

it dosnt matter what lib dems and troies think it about the labour party where she does not have the most support

Duncan
  • 14:24 |
  • 27 May 2010
  • 0

A whole party of Kool-Aid drinkers. David Miliband is 'standing by our achievements'. Ed Balls was asked in an interview 'what do you make of [Ed Miliband's] claim Labour didn't listen enough' and replied '...the public weren't hearing what we were saying'. They're all pretty hopeless. @Jane most of us non-Labourites don't mind Diaine Abbot because she's at least honest. As a LibDem I'm thinking of the next coalition; one of the Milibands might be tolerable but it would have been better if someone untarnished by New Labour would have put themselves forward.

Duncan

Anyone else think it's odd how few (3%) Labour voters support the left wing candidate (John McDonnel) compared to how many of no party allegiance?

charles jaggers

I have decided to vote for Ed Milliband because I feel that he is the one most likely to bring change to the party.

frank
  • 10:54 |
  • 31 Aug 2010
  • 0

The interpretations above are not objective- if David Milliband was in top spot in the previous poll, does that indicate it's him who would be the disaster, with Machiavllian Tory voters picking him in the hopes of Labour floundering? Of course it doesn't. Neither does it mean that when Diane tops the poll. Voters aren't as cynical as pollsters (or bloggers). What this does indicate is that the more the public see of David Milliband, they less they like him- not surprising really, as he's the New Labour continuity candidate.

Gazzalw
  • 11:15 |
  • 31 Aug 2010
  • 0

I'll have Diane as leader if the Tories dump Cameron and select Doris Karloff as THEIR leader just to make it fair.

vince crosby
  • 11:24 |
  • 31 Aug 2010
  • 0

Good Luck will be in London for next 3 days due to the celebration of my 70 birthday

cabby dave

The country did not reject "New Labour" at the election any more than they chose Tories or Liberal Democrats. Even with the perceived least popular leader in Gordon Brown New Labour did better than expected. The recent fragile turn around in the economy and the continued improvement in both the employment figures and recent exam results can hardly be credited to the playing fields of Eton brigade or their wag tail lap dogs. Peter Mandelson is quite right when he warns against a return to the old Labour ideology; rejected four times by the electorate. David Miliband is the pragmatic choice given that Ed Balls has intimated that his leadership campaign is no more than a maneuver to get him what really wants which is the shadow chancellor's job. Diane is a good MP who works hard for her constituents but she has less chance of making it to number 10 than Michael Foot ever did.

eric shiel
  • 13:50 |
  • 31 Aug 2010
  • 0

Being an intelectuaooy convinced democratic socialist since the days of Atlee and Devin, I can't be inspired by any of the candidates. All I want to know who is the REAL leftist.

David Bolland
  • 17:56 |
  • 31 Aug 2010
  • 0

Diane ---most popular amongst Tory voters? Is that good? Lets face it if I was a Tory I too would go for you as well!

Geoff Lee
  • 11:51 |
  • 03 Sep 2010
  • 0

Diane is a good MP, and seems honest, sincere and likeable. Unfortunately, that is not enough on its own, and I don't feel that she would be able to unite the party. However, I do hope that these qualities are valued and she is offered an appropriate shadow cabinet position. Thanks for standing Diane.

Michael M
  • 05:35 |
  • 05 Sep 2010
  • 0

Like all 'opinion polls' this PoliticsHome one is totally worthless. It only reflects the views of the commissioning organisation. The reality (and truth) is that Diane Abbott will languish in last place in the election result (rightly) with c.5% because she represents the worst aspects of the PLP. She has used the platform of the media, particularly TV, to attack Labour policies, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown knowing that she was immune from any challenges on air. She has claimed that the reason for removing her son from local State school into private education was because "the schools were poor" but the real reason (as stated in an ITV programme on 'London education of Black pupils') was that she believed the teachers were racially prejudiced against Black male teenagers. Diane Abbott does not deserve any support in this election.

SHEILA CHARLES
  • 12:10 |
  • 10 Sep 2010
  • 0

Hi Diane Abbott. If we lose you, then Labour would have lost the backbone of a fair and non-discriminatory Government. That's all I have to say.

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  • 10:24 |
  • 06 Mar 2011
  • 0

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