Jeremy Corbyn’s response to the Paris terrorist attacks has been heavily criticised by the media and it appears the public have similarly negative views. According to a new ComRes poll from the Sunday Mirror/Independent on Sunday, the Labour leader’s net favourability rating has dropped to –28 — a ten point decrease since the last ComRes poll in mid-September. Notably, 53 per cent of Labour voters view Corbyn favourably, compared to 85 per cent of Conservatives for David Cameron.
While George Osborne has a -19 net approval rating and John McDonnell -12, the only politician with a worse score than Corbyn is Vladimir Putin on -41. There is also bad news for McDonnell: he is the only politician among those polled who has a negative favourability score (-1) among supporters of his own party. Alternatively, Boris Johnson has seen a substantial increase in his overall favourability ratings — he is the most popular politician with a +17 net approval.
The new poll also reveals that David Cameron is by far the most trusted leader to ‘keep me and my family safe’. 39 per cent agree with this statement for the Prime Minister, compared to 17 per cent for Corbyn. Overall, 58 per cent say they don’t trust Corbyn to keep people safe. Two in five adults now believe that Labour MPs should remove Corbyn as leader.
On combating terrorism, the polling reports general support for the government’s position. Seventy per cent say they accept infringements on privacy for the sake of fighting terrorism, while almost two thirds say killing British citizens in Syria, such as Jihadi John, is justified if the security services say they have joined Isis. 46 per cent also believe the UK should take part in air strikes in Isis, even without UN approval — something Labour has been against.
The poll also reports the Conservatives are currently on 42 per cent of voting intentions — a 15 point lead over Labour. Moderate Labour MPs have become increasingly concerned throughout this week that the views of their leader are out of step with the general public’s and that this discord between electorate and leader will drag the party down too. This polling may confirm their fears.
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