Another week, another disappointing poll for Labour. This time it’s not even the Conservative’s 16-point lead, with Labour on just 24pc, that’s the party’s biggest problem.
Worse still, Jeremy Corbyn’s beleaguered party are now the third most popular party with working class voters, according to the YouGov/Times poll. The working class approval rate puts Labour on just 20pc, with Ukip ahead on 23pc. The Conservatives continue to lead the way among lower income voters, on 39pc.
Given Labour’s turmoil over Brexit, it’s not so surprising that blue collar voters are less likely to vote for Labour than Ukip. Corbyn’s party have become more associated with the liberal elite than working class voters for some time now. Matters haven’t been helped by the party’s difficulty understanding those who express concerns about immigration, with Pat Glass calling one such voter ‘a horrible racist‘ during the EU referendum campaign and Paul Mason describing voters who defect from Labour to Ukip as ‘toe-rags’.
If Labour lose Stoke-on-Trent Central or Copeland to the Tories or Ukip in the by-elections later this month, it will bring the issue to a head. While Labour’s problems run deeper than Corbyn, having an anti-Trident, pro-immigration London MP who is seen to be unpatriotic as leader only exacerbates the issue.
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