logo
Third of Labour voters could vote for Corbyn party

Third of Labour voters could vote for Corbyn party

Telegraph09-07-2025
Almost one in three Labour supporters would consider voting for a new Left-wing party led by Jeremy Corbyn, a new poll shows.
Thirty-one per cent of people who backed Sir Keir Starmer's party at the general election last year said they are open to switching their support to a new group led by the former Labour party leader.
Last week Mr Corbyn and Zarah Sultana confirmed their involvement in a new hard-Left party that plans to fight Labour.
YouGov asked 2,000 British adults how likely they were on a scale of one to 10 to vote for a new party led by Mr Corbyn.
Out of the Labour voters surveyed, 31 per cent gave a response of at least six out of 10, while 40 per cent indicated they were willing to consider voting for the Green Party.
A further 12 per cent said they would consider voting for Nigel Farage's Reform UK, a sign that Sir Keir is losing votes on both the Left and Right.
Among voters for all parties, 18 per cent said they would consider voting for a new party led by Mr Corbyn.
The findings are a further blow for Sir Keir, who has seen Labour's poll lead evaporate since the general election and the popularity of his Government sink to historic lows one year after taking office.
Reform is currently leading in the polls, and the YouGov survey will add to fears in Labour circles that division among voters on the Left would help Mr Farage secure victory at the next general election.
Mr Corbyn, the MP of Islington North, led Labour between 2015 and 2020 and was in charge of the party during the 2017 and 2019 general elections.
Labour won 40 per cent of the popular vote in 2017 and forced a hung Parliament after the dramatic collapse of the Conservative campaign under Baroness May.
Two years later, however, Labour slumped to its worst electoral defeat since 1935 as it was reduced to just over 200 seats and Boris Johnson secured a landslide Tory majority.
Corbyn targets Streeting's constituency
Mr Corbyn sits as an independent MP after being exiled from Labour in 2020. Ms Sultana lost the Labour whip last year after rebelling against Sir Keir's decision to keep the two-child benefit cap.
The two MPs are significantly to the Left of their former party on issues including welfare cuts, tax rises and the conflict in the Middle East.
Their new party plans to target Labour big beasts, and Mr Corbyn held an event in Ilford North – the constituency narrowly held by Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary – hours after the new party was announced.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Labour 'can't win in Scotland' because of North Sea oil and gas ban, warns union chief
Labour 'can't win in Scotland' because of North Sea oil and gas ban, warns union chief

Daily Record

timea minute ago

  • Daily Record

Labour 'can't win in Scotland' because of North Sea oil and gas ban, warns union chief

Gary Smith, whose union is a major donor to Labour, said "people don't get that energy is an emotional issue in Scotland". Labour will lose next year's Holyrood election because of the UK Government's opposition to new oil and gas developments in the North Sea, a trade union chief has predicted. ‌ Gary Smith, general secretary of the GMB, said Keir Starmer's party had failed to understand the energy sector was an "emotional issue in Scotland". ‌ The UK Government is expected to grant permission for the giant new Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields in the North Sea to go ahead as they already have licenses approved. But Ed Miliband, the UK Energy Secretary, has repeatedly said no future licenses will be granted by Labour - meaning the North Sea sector will continue to shed jobs over time. ‌ Smith, whose union is a major financial donor to Labour, said the party's opposition to oil and gas was a gift to Nigel Farage. "On the current policies, I don't believe that Labour can win in Scotland," the union chief, who lives in Paisley, told the New Statesman. "People don't get that energy is an emotional issue in Scotland. We went hundreds of miles out in this inhospitable sea and built this incredible, groundbreaking energy infrastructure. "If you're on the west coast of Scotland, most people of a certain age have a drop of oil from Sullom Voe because there are so many families who were involved in building that project when they landed the oil in Shetland. This was an emotional story about Scotland. It's important to its sense of self and the economy, and I don't think people have really got that." ‌ Asked if he thought Labour would ultimately be forced to rethink its policy, Smith added: "They will have to rethink it because the consequences in terms of energy prices, in terms of national security, in terms of the economy and jobs, are so profound. "What we should be doing is taking a public stake in what is left of the oil and gas sector and using the profits for that sector, or part of them, to invest in a new green future. "We should be talking about North Sea Two, how we're going to collaborate with Norway – not just decarbonising the North Sea, but what comes next. Oil and gas is not the enemy: it's actually the gateway to whatever comes next, and we've got to stop seeing it as a threat.' ‌ But Smith said his union was not reconsidering its donations to Labour as a result. It comes after Unite members voted to review its financial relationship with the party. The union chief said: "It's up to Unite what they do. We're not interested in what other unions do. "For us, a relationship with government should be contentious, there should be disagreement and debate. But I'd much rather have a Labour government in power than the alternative. And let's be clear about the Tories – they're done – the alternative is going to be Reform." The Record asked Scottish Labour for comment.

Kent County Council pledges to keep all council tips open
Kent County Council pledges to keep all council tips open

BBC News

time2 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Kent County Council pledges to keep all council tips open

There will be no closures of rubbish tips in Kent under the new Reform UK-led administration, the council has formerly Conservative-led Kent County Council (KCC) had proposed closing four of six household waste recycling centres in 2023, but cancelled the plans after a public backlash and a Tory backbench now Reform UK-led authority has indicated that all the facilities will remain David Wimble, cabinet member for the portfolio said that "subject to some act of God", there were no plans to shut the centres. He had been questioned by Liberal Democrat councillor Tim Prater if the centres were safe during a meeting of the Environment and Transport Cabinet Wimble said: "Will there still be the same number in five years time? To the best of my ability to answer that, subject to an act of God, I'm of the opinion that, yes, we are keeping them all open."The household waste recycling centres are in Faversham, Tovil, Deal, Richborough, Dartford and council previously said it hoped it could save £1.5m through the closures, according to the Local Democracy Reporting announcement that there were no planned closures was welcomed by opposition issue was raised as councillors agreed to extend contracts to two companies which run the sites and dispose of household waste until 2030, costing £14m a year.

Gang leaders among first to be hit by small boat sanctions
Gang leaders among first to be hit by small boat sanctions

BBC News

time2 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Gang leaders among first to be hit by small boat sanctions

Gang leaders and small boat suppliers are among the first 25 targets to have their UK assets frozen in an effort to combat migrants crossing the suspected criminals are also banned from travelling to the UK, after they were the first to be hit by a wave of new sanctions targeting list includes Albanian Bledar Lala, linked to smuggling migrants from Belgium, and Alen Basil, a former police translator now said to be running a people-trafficking network from Secretary David Lammy described the move as a "landmark moment" but experts said the impact was likely to be limited given the scale of smuggling networks. UK investigators can now seize the British assets of sanctioned individuals and groups, while firms in Britain must cut any financial ties with the targets is a Chinese company, Weihai Yamar Outdoors Product Co, accused of manufacturing inflatable boats being advertised for a statement, Lammy said: "From Europe to Asia we are taking the fight to the people-smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions."My message to the gangs who callously risk vulnerable lives for profit is this: we know who you are, and we will work with our partners around the world to hold you to account."But Oxford University's Migration Observatory said the impact could be director Dr Madeleine Sumption said she would be "surprised" if the sanctions were the "game changer" to end small boat crossings."There are so many people involved in the industry that targeting people individually is probably only going to have an impact around the margins," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on added: "The impact is dependent to an extent on the co-operation of other countries where smugglers are operating." Since coming to power in July last year, Labour has announced a series of measures to tackle people-smuggling, including a new criminal offence of endangering the lives of others at sea. Legislation going through Parliament sets out plans to use counter-terror powers against people-smugglers - with suspects facing travel bans, social-media blackouts and phone the latest figures show 2025 has already set a new record for small boat than 21,000 people have made the dangerous crossing so far this year - a 56% increase on the same period in 2024. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store