Boost for Jeremy Corbyn as Labour takes eight point poll lead over Tories
2 min read
Labour has soared to an eight-point lead over the Conservatives since the general election, according to a new poll.
The YouGov survey for The Times puts Jeremy Corbyn’s party on 46% and the Tories on 38%. It is thought to be Labour's highest ever score with the pollster, and is an incredible turnaround since the start of the election campaign, when they were 24 points behind.
The poll puts the Liberal Democrats on 6%, Ukip on 4%, the SNP and Plaid Cymru on 4% and the Green Party on 1%.
As well as being ahead among younger voters, Labour enjoys a lead of three points among 50-64 year olds, with only pensioners opting for the Tories in larger numbers, according to the survey.
The results come amid turmoil for both major parties - with Labour embroiled in a row over MP deselections and the Tories wrangling over their future leadership.
Theresa May saw her authority stripped away when she lost her majority at the general election in June - but her MPs have so far held back from challenging her leadership.
However, some junior ministers are more eager to push her out earlier, according to the Sun. A number of them are mulling over whether to stage a mass resignation to force her hand ahead of the Tory conference in October, the paper says.
One said they were sick of seeing Mrs May “pushed around” like a “ragdoll” since the vote, and branded Cabinet ministers angling for the future contest “self-indulgent”.
Meanwhile the row in Labour over whether left-wingers will try to oust sitting MPs who have spoken out against Jeremy Corbyn exploded yesterday.
A new CLP committee member in Liverpool Wavertree called on MP Luciana Berger to apologise to the Labour leader for her past comments and told her to “get on board quite quickly now”.
Left-wingers from the pro-Corbyn Momentum group won nine out of ten committee posts in the constituency - but Momentum distanced itself from the comments against Ms Berger.
According to The Times a fifth of Labour MPs - including Chuka Umunna, Stella Creasy and Jess Phillips - appear on a deselection hitlist drawn up by a Momentum branch in South Tyneside.
Chris Williamson - an ally of Mr Corbyn who returned as an MP at the election in June - yesterday suggested disloyal MPs should be removed to “keep Labour fresh and updated”.
Mr Corbyn's office has hinted that he could back mandatory reselection in a bid to further democratise the party.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
