Labour members now more supportive of Jeremy Corbyn than ever

There is a big gap between Labour members' views and those of the general public, however

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

(Getty Images)

Labour members’ support for Jeremy Corbyn has stayed very strong since his election in September, new polling shows.

A YouGov study commissioned by the Election Data website found 72 per cent of Labour members approved of Mr Corbyn, with 17 per cent disapproving.

Mr Corbyn won the Labour leadership with a knock-out blow in the first round of the contest – with 59.5 per cent of the vote.

The high support was despite 41 per cent of Labour members saying it was unlikely that Mr Corbyn would win the next election in 2020.

The poll also shows that if Labour had another leadership election in which Mr Corbyn and his close ally John McDonnell did not stand, a plurality of members would simply not vote.

“This is a surprising result but Would Not Vote is ineligible due to the fact that it is not a human being at all but a statement of intent, Election Data wrote in its analysis.

“Presumably those members who would not vote in such a scenario are so angry at the impertinence of the question they express their dissatisfaction through choosing not to vote at all.”

The party has practically doubled in size since Mr Corbyn won the leadership election – with the flood of new members apparently favouring the Labour leader.

Women members were particularly supportive of the leader, with 78 per cent in favour, 18 points net higher than men when including disapprovals. Young people were also 11 points net more supportive than those over 60.

The party’s middle class ABC1 social grade members were less supportive than its working class C2DE members with a nine-point gap in net support.

Londoners were the least supportive of Mr Corbyn compared to the rest of the country, where support was spread broadly equally,

The study however shows a big contrast between the views of Labour members, the party’s more casual voters, and the general public.

Approval was still positive but less overwhelming for Labour voters – who liked Mr Corbyn by 43 per cent to 26 per cent against.

The British public at large however disapproved of Mr Corbyn by a similar margin – 47 per cent against and 23 per cent in favour.