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Jeremy Corbyn support among Labour members has grown since he was elected leader

Two thirds of those eligible to vote in Labour leadership election say Jeremy Corbyn is doing 'well' as leader 

Matt Dathan
Online political reporter
Tuesday 24 November 2015 10:07 GMT
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Jeremy Corbyn won 59.5 per cent of first preference voters in the Labour leadership contest
Jeremy Corbyn won 59.5 per cent of first preference voters in the Labour leadership contest

Support for Jeremy Corbyn among Labour members has risen since he became leader, despite his first 10 weeks being dominated by internal divisions with MPs and shadow cabinet ministers over policy and appointments.

Two thirds of those eligible to vote in the leadership contest that elected Mr Corbyn said he was doing "well".

This is higher than the 59.5 per cent of first preference votes Mr Corbyn won in the leadership contest in September.

The findings, which came in a YouGov poll for The Times, exposes the gulf in thinking between Labour MPs and party members.

Fewer than 20 of Labour's 232 MPs voted for Mr Corbyn, despite 36 nominating him for the leadership.

The leadership election was the first time that the new One Member, One Vote electoral system was used, with full members, registered supporters who paid £3 to sign up and trade union members given an equal say.

The poll - the first since the leadership result on September 12 - found 65 per cent of members, supporters and unionists approving of Mr Corbyn's leadership.

This compared to 56 per cent of Labour voters saying he was doing "well" and 30 per cent of all voters.

Among those who voted for Mr Corbyn in the leadership election, 86 per cent agreed that he was doing a good job.

The continued support among party members and grassroots supporters comes despite his leadership having been rocked by internal party rows over a number of his policy positions.

He failed to change the party's pro-Trident renewal policy but used his keynote speech to the Labour party conference to reaffirm his opposition to renewing the fleet of four Trident ballistic submarines next summer.

He appointed Maria Eagle, the Shadow Defence Secretary, to head a review of the party's defence policy, but then undermined her by appointing his close-ally and fellow anti-Trident campaigner Ken Livingstone to co-chair the review.

In just the past week alone Mr Corbyn has clashed with Labour MPs on whether to give a free vote for air strikes in Syria, the party's shoot-to-kill policy for terrorists and whether to renew Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent, while Mr Corbyn also faced anger from his colleagues after questioning the legality of killing Jihadi John.

Some Labour MPs were so angry at Mr Corbyn's response to the terror attacks in Paris that they openly praised Mr Cameron's efforts to win parliamentary approval to bomb Isis in Syria while criticising their own leader's response to the atrocities in the French capital.

Even Mr Corbyn's Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn, when questioned about Mr Corbyn's initial opposition to shoot-to-kill, said: "I can't speak for Jeremy".

And Angela Eagle, who deputises for Mr Corbyn as his Shadow First Secretary of State as well as Shadow Business Secretary, repeatedly refused to say whether the Labour leader and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell were fit for the "highest offices in the land".

Mr Corbyn faces the prospect of a number of party rebels defying his instruction for Labour MPs to abstain in an SNP motion opposing the renewal of Trident - he has told MPs not to vote despite renewal remaining the party's policy after Mr Corbyn failed to change the policy at conference in September.

He is also coming under pressure to back down on his refusal to give a free vote on air strikes in Syria, with one shadow cabinet source telling the Mirror that they could even force Mr Corbyn to back intervention given the number of frontbenchers in favour.

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