Labour going backwards in polls under Jeremy Corbyn while Theresa May extends lead
Labour has fallen back under Jeremy Corbyn while the Tories are streaking into the distance – hard-hitting but unsurprising new research has revealed.
Those pesky pollsters at Ipsos Mori have done what pollsters do best – ask people for their opinions – and discovered that despite the Conservatives having been torn apart during the Brexit debate, they are seriously outperforming the red team.
The Tories are ahead on four of the biggest indicators as to how people would vote in a general election, Ipsos found.
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More than half (53 per cent) the public believe Theresa May and co are fit for government, nearly half (48 per cent) think they understand the problems facing Britain and that the party has a good leadership team.
That compares very unfavourably to Corbyn-backers, with only one in five (21 per cent) people believing the party has good leadership and only one in four (26 per cent) stating it is ready to lead the country.
Perhaps an even bigger concern for those fond of Corbyn than the gulf is that the Conservatives are extending their lead. On the most important question about who people would vote for, the Conservatives recently recorded a near-unprecedented 17 point lead.
And on the underlying issues, you can see why. Labour has squandered a six point lead on the question of who "looks after the interests of people like me", to fall five points behind the Conservatives. Similarly, fewer people now believe Labour understands the problems facing Britain.
The news will buoy the Conservatives who may be feeling slightly under pressure following the Liberal Democrats' big leap forward in the by-election for the plum Witney seat after it was vacated by David Cameron.
The Lib Dems pushed Labour into third place and the Conservatives scooped the seat with 45 per cent of the popular vote, down from the 60 per cent Cameron secured at the 2015 General Election.