Voters ditched Labour over Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and neutral Brexit stance, reveals poll of 2017 supporters who defected this year
- Most common reason for defections was Corbyn’s leadership, pollsters claims
- The survey spoke to 500 people who voted Labour in 2017 but did not in 2019
- Perception of a confusing Brexit strategy was cited as a key reason for switching
The biggest reason that voters ditched the Labour Party at this year’s general election was Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, a YouGov poll claims.
Following the left-winger’s disastrous performance as Boris Johnson secured a landslide victory, the polling group asked 500 people who backed him in 2017 why they did not this time around.
Labour’s vote share fell by almost eight per cent this time and 35 per cent of respondents said they didn’t back them this year due to Corbyn’s leadership.
Mr Corbyn oversaw Labour’s worst defeat since the 1930s and a YouGov poll claims that the main reason for the disastrous result was his leadership
Just 21 per cent of voters had a favourable view of the Labour leader, compared to 46 per cent after the election two years ago.
Most people did not elaborate on what they thought was wrong with his running of the party, but the perception of a confusing Brexit policy was also a key factor for disillusionment.
One in five people said that the leadership’s strategy for the UK leaving the EU was the main reason for defecting.
The data suggest that the frustration was not necessarily because of the stance being too pro-Remain or pro-Leave.
Just three per cent believed it leaned too much toward Remain and six per cent said it was too far toward Leave.
His perceived neutrality on the mater seemed to be the problem, with the pollsters saying it could have made him appear weak and indecisive.
Mr Corbyn (pictured addressing the Commons) oversaw a Brexit policy platform that many found confusing, the survey claims
Thirteen per cent of respondents also said that he’d been too weak on Brexit and not taken a definitive stance.
Tactical voting also hurt the party, with 10 per cent giving it as the reason that they did not vote for Corbyn.
This rose to 15 per cent among pro-EU voters who had left and was the main reason for three per cent of Leave voters who ditched the party.
Mr Corbyn and the Labour leadership have only partially accepted the blame for the party’s poor showing at the election with many of his allies having blamed the media and Brexit.
But an Opinium survey, conducted on the day of the election, showed Mr Corbyn and the party leadership was the most cited reason among voters for not backing Labour.
The independent review will seek to assess why the party has failed to win power at four successive elections.
The commissioners behind the probe said it was ‘wrong’ to blame only the leadership or the position on Brexit for Labour’s heaviest general election loss since 1935 as the party sank to just 202 MPs.
As well as Mr Miliband, who led the party to its 2015 defeat and then stood down as leader, former shadow education secretary Lucy Powell and Birmingham Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood will also help lead the review.