Jeremy Corbyn to win Labour leadership according to new poll

[dutchman]

Jeremy Corbyn is on course to win the Labour leadership, according to a new poll.


The three Tories and one Socialist standing for leader

The left-wing firebrand could secure victory on both first and second choice votes - beating Andy Burnham by 53% to 47%.

The poll, conducted by YouGov for the Times, puts Yvette Cooper in third place, with Liz Kendall fourth.

It also suggests Tom Watson run away with the party's deputy leadership, winning with 42% of the vote ahead of Stella Creasy on 21%.

But the poll also says some 20% of Labour members polled have yet to make up their minds on who they want as leader.

Two private polls, shown to the New Statesman last week, also put Corbyn out in front.

Corbyn's odds to win the race were slashed to 10/3 last week, after starting as a 100/1 shot.

Mr Burnham remains the favourite with bookies Ladbrokes with odds of 10/11, followed by Shadow Home Secretary Ms Cooper on 11/4.

But Mr Corbyn, an MP since 1983 who's rebelled against his party more than 500 times including over the Iraq war, has long since leapfrogged Ms Kendall's odds

She's now trailing on 10/1 after Mr Corbyn attracted a four-figure mystery bid.

Labrokes said he is 'the only man punters want to back at the moment', including a £1,000 stake at 7/2 which led his odds to be cut again.

[rebbonk]

Having watched these 4 on the Sunday politics show Corbyn certainly comes over as the most human. The two women came across very badly, talking over others and not listening, and Burnham came across as being shifty.

[dutchman]

Jeremy Corbyn: "It's going extremely well"



Jeremy Corbyn says his leadership campaign is going "extremely well" but that talk of him winning the contest is "a bit premature".

The left-winger is ahead of his rivals in the race to replace Ed Miliband, according to a Times opinion poll.

He also dismissed claims that he would split the party if chosen as leader.

The Islington North MP was speaking to journalists after promising a "publicly led expansion and reconstruction of the economy" in a speech in London.

His comments came after former prime minister Tony Blair said he would take the country backwards if elected and that anyone with his politics in their heart should "get a transplant".

"I do not know what he means by taking the country backwards," Mr Corbyn said, adding that Mr Blair's suggestion he was the Tory preference amounted to "rather silly remarks".

"Surely we should be talking about the situation facing Britain today, the situation facing many of the poorest people in this country today, and maybe think if our policies are relevant," he said.

"A lot of people are supporting us, particularly young people supporting us who want a very different Labour Party to the one they've had in the past."

In his speech on the economy, Mr Corbyn said austerity was a "political choice not an economic necessity".

He promised to protect public services and increase taxes on the wealthy.

The YouGov poll for The Times suggests that in the final round of voting, the Islington MP would get 53% of support, six points ahead of Andy Burnham.

[rebbonk]

I see Teflon Tone has opened his mouth and entered the fray!

Apparently, he doesn't want Corbyn and is backing (not in so many words, you understand) Liz Kendall. - And so speaketh the man that ruined the country and led us into questionable conflicts!

[dutchman]

Jeremy Corbyn in Labour leadership contest 'for real'



Jeremy Corbyn has said he is in the Labour leadership contest "for real", and has called for renationalisation of the railways and energy companies.

The left-wing MP, who topped a recent YouGov poll, told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show he was "making no predictions" over the outcome.

The popularity of his campaign has sparked a row within the party,

Ex-SNP leader Alex Salmond said he could work with Labour on "a range of issues" if Mr Corbyn became leader.

Mr Salmond said the Islington North MP was a "substantial politician" and criticised his "demonisation" in the press, saying the two parties could co-operate on welfare reform and Trident renewal.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is among those to have warned Labour against moving to the left following a poll that put Mr Corbyn ahead of Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall in the race to succeed Ed Miliband.

It has been suggested that Conservative supporters, as well as "hard left" activists, have been paying the £3 required to take part in the vote in order to back Mr Corbyn.

But Mr Corbyn said he only wanted the votes of "genuine Labour" supporters, who "want to stay for the longer course".

[dutchman]

Labour leadership favourite Jeremy Corbyn holding Q&A in Coventry on Sunday



Labour leadership hopeful Jeremy Corbyn will answer questions at a public meeting in Coventry on Sunday.

The left-wing candidate is the front-runner to lead the Labour Party following the resignation of former leader Ed Miliband.

A free public question and answer session will be held on Sunday between 2pm and 3.30pm.

The event will be hosted at the headquarters of Unite the Union, at Transport House, on Short Street.

A statement on Mr Corbyn’s campaign website said: “This is an opportunity for you to hear Jeremy put his case for Labour leader and the chance for you to get answers to questions you may have for him.

“Come along and hear how he is building both this campaign and putting forward the wider case for progressive politics.”

Almost 300 people have already indicated they plan to attend the question and answer session.

Mr Corbyn initially started as the outsider in the leadership contest, but has since become the bookies’ favourite to take the top job.

[dutchman]

Jeremy Corbyn predicted landslide 53% victory in shock new YouGov poll



A shock poll tonight has predicted a landslide 53% victory for Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership race.

The YouGov poll for the Times claims he could smash aside his three contenders in the first round of votes without having to win over second preferences.

It's the second public poll of the leadership race, just 36 hours before the deadline for members and supporters to sign up to vote.

Ladbrokes immediately slashed their odds on the left-winger to 1/2, with Andy Burnham on 3/1 and Yvette Cooper on 4/1.

The poll puts Mr Corbyn an astonishing 32 points ahead of closest rival Mr Burnham.

Despite being in second place the shadow health secretary is trailing on 21%.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper would win 18% of the vote while Liz Kendall would win just 8%.

The lead is far more dramatic than the first YouGov poll last month, which put Mr Corbyn on 43% compared to 26% for Mr Burnham.

That kind of result would force the two frontrunners to fight for second-preference votes from people who would have wanted to pick Ms Cooper or Ms Kendall.

This could have posed a headache for Mr Corbyn - whose outsider badge makes him less likely to pick up second-preference votes.

But if he wins more than 50% in the first round, it'll be enough to carry him through to the top job automatically.

Around 400,000 people are thought to have signed up to vote for Labour's next leader - and just half were part of the party before polling day.

It's sparked fears of mass 'entryism' by hard-left candidates who've stood against Labour in the past.

YouGov said four of the 10 new percentage points voting for Mr Corbyn have switched candidates - the other six have joined afresh in the last month.

YouGov chief Peter Kellner, who faced embarrassment over off-the-mark polls before the election, has put his reputation on the line by predicting a Corbyn 'knockout'.

He writes in tomorrow's Times: "I would personally be astonished if Mr Corbyn does not end up as Labour leader - but I have seldom released a poll with as much trepidation as I have done this time".

[rebbonk]

It's not really a 'shock' is it? What we have at the moment isn't working (despite all the bullsh*t, hype and misrepresented statistics) so people will explore other avenues.

Without doubt we need a second party that will hold the current government to account and stop them abusing the power that they have. What we really don't need is a Tory lite party masquerading as Labour, hence the rise of Corbyn.

[dutchman]

[dutchman]

Landslide Corbyn victory looks certain after MP secures 80 per cent in polls following final debate



Jeremy Corbyn looks set to secure a landslide victory in the Labour leadership race, as a Sky News poll following the final debate in the election saw him storming ahead with more than 80 per cent of the vote.

The MP for Islington North battled it out against rivals Liz Kendall, Yvette Cooper, and Andy Burnham, during the hustings at the Sage in Gateshead, as the race entered the final furlong.

When the debate closed, Corbyn had secured 80.6 per cent, followed by a dismal showing of 9.1 for Kendall, 5.7 for Cooper, with former front-runner Burnham scoring the lowest with 4.6 per cent, according to Sky News.

On the subject of foreign affairs, the four candidates were asked to give their opinion on whether the UK “should put boots on the ground to tackle ISIS?”

All four were in agreement that they would not like to see UK troops on the ground to combat ISIS in Syria.

Ms Kendall said she could only see such a move working if “it’s part of a wider strategy in that area” to support democracy.

Saying he agreed in principle with Ms Kendall, Mr Burnham said he “didn’t envisage it being an issue in the future.”

Mr Corbyn warned that any such action “would make the situation worse, more deaths would follow, more horrors would follow”.

And Ms Cooper was adamant: “I don’t think we should have UK troops on the ground.

“There doesn’t need to be a response on the ground.”

She claimed the UK’s role should be in supporting democracy in the region.