More than half of voters say former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had become a barrier to Labour winning elections, a new poll by Omnisis shows.
The pollsters asked voters whether Corbyn was a barrier to election success for Labour with 52% saying he was; 24% saying he wasn’t and 24% didn’t know.
In addition, 43% of people also felt the party’s governing body, the National Executive Committee, had treated Jeremy Corbyn fairly in blocking him from standing for election as a Labour MP at the next election. Only 25% said he had been treated unfairly and 32% didn’t know.
Half of voters also said they disagreed that Jeremy Corbyn had been a good Labour leader, with just 28% saying he had been good and 22% didn’t know.
On the subject of bans, Omnisis asked if voters supported or opposed a full ban on nitrous oxide after the government revealed plans to make possession of the substance illegal.
73% would support a full ban while 14% opposed a ban and 13% didn’t know.
Brian Cooper, Managing Director of Omnisis, said: “The results are pretty clear that voters feel the NEC’s move is seen as a positive move, with more than half of respondents saying they felt that Mr Corbyn had become a barrier to Labour’s progress and that the NEC had treated him fairly.
“Time will tell what impact it has on Labour’s prospects, if any, but it is fascinating to see how people perceive the former Labour leader and his impact on the party.”
ON VOTER INTENTION
Meanwhile, Labour regained a 23-point lead over the Conservatives in our latest voter intention tracker:
- Lab: 50% (+6)
- Con: 27% (-2)
- LD: 9% (-1)
- SNP: 3% (NC)
- Ref: 6% (NC)
- Green: 4% (-1)
ON PRIME MINISTER APPROVAL
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sustained his fight back in the voter approval stakes, with a neutral net approval rate this week:
- Approve: 35% (-1)
- Disapprove: 35% (NC)
- Don’t know: 31% (+3)
ON WHO’D MAKE THE BEST PM
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer came storming back as the voter’s choice to be the Prime Minister with an incredible turnaround from last week, when he fell behind for the first time this year:
- Sir Keir Starmer: 41% (+7)
- Rishi Sunak: 29% (-8)
- Don’t Know: 30% (+1)
ON BREXIT SENTIMENT
It was fairly static on the Brexit front this week, with little movement:
All respondents
- Stay Out: 32% (-1)
- Re-join: 49% (+1)
Excluding will not vote and don’t know
- Stay Out: 40 (-1)
- Re-join: 60% (+1)
The poll, conducted on 28th-29th March 2023, questioned 1,344 people and is weighted to a national representative population. The tables will be published here: https://www.omnisis.co.uk/poll-results
Image credit: Sophie Brown, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons