LABOUR has slumped to fourth place behind the Tories, the Brexit Party and the LibDems as voters continue to desert the party, according to a new UK-wide poll.
The YouGov study for The Times found that just 18% of voters would back Jeremy Corbyn’s party if an election were held today, a two-point fall on their position a week ago. It is the worst score for Labour since May 2009, when Gordon Brown’s government was grappling with the financial crash.
The poll put the Conservatives in the lead with 24% – two points up on last week and a point clear of Nigel Farage’s newly-formed Brexit Party on 23%. The LibDems – who enjoyed a surge at the local and European elections – are in third place on 20%.
The survey suggested Labour’s struggle to come up with a clear Brexit policy is playing a large part in their woes.
Just 25% of 2016 Remain voters told YouGov they would now back Labour, down from 48% at the start of the year. While just 8% of Leave voters said they would back the party, down from 21% in January.
READ MORE: Jeremy Corbyn blasted by MPs for letting Chris Williamson back in
The results again indicate that UK politics is in a period of four-party competition, with the seat distribution difficult to predict under the system of first past the post.
Corbyn and Sir Mark Sedwill, the Cabinet Secretary, had a “frank” meeting on Wednesday over a Times report last week that some senior civil servants fear the Labour leader is not up to the job “physically or mentally” and has become “too frail and is losing his memory”.
Corbyn, accompanied by Jon Trickett, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, met Sir Mark for 45 minutes in the Labour leader’s office.
The meeting was “frank and detailed, with a full exchange of views”, a Labour spokesman said. “The seriousness of the civil service breach and the evident malicious intent behind it was acknowledged by all participants in the meeting.”
Corbyn and Trickett pressed the case for a fully independent investigation to restore trust and confidence in the civil service. They were promised an independent element to the civil service investigation, that they will receive regular updates on its progress and that it would report as soon as possible. They made clear that the credibility of the investigation will be assessed on the basis of its results.”
A Cabinet Office spokeswoman agreed that the discussion had been “open and constructive”. The investigation will be conducted by civil servants unrelated to the events, and the findings will be shared with the first civil service commissioner, she said.
The Times reported at the weekend that the future of Corbyn was openly discussed at an event attended by senior civil servants, with one saying that “there must be senior people in the party who know that he is not functioning on all cylinders”.
Labour insiders are braced for the party’s anti-Semitism dispute to worsen next week with the broadcast of a BBC Panorama episode entitled: Is Labour antisemitic?
The BBC claims that the documentary has secured “access to confidential communications and documents” which “reveal … evasions and contradictions”.
One Labour insider told The Times said that they expected the episode to focus on the workings of Corbyn’s closest aides. In May the party was placed under formal investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to examine whether it has unlawfully discriminated against Jews.
The SNP’s Tommy Sheppard said the results of the poll suggested Scotland was facing the prospect of more Conservative Governments.
“Labour have spent three years arguing for Brexit despite the enormous damage it will cause to working families – and now their position is so confused it’s hard to even know where they stand,” he said.
“People are fed up with Jeremy Corbyn trying to face both ways at the same time without committing to anything. Scotland has been ignored throughout the Brexit process, and it is clear that the Westminster parties have no intention of respecting our decision to remain in the EU.”
He added: “Both the Tories and Labour have repeatedly proven they have nothing to offer Scotland but economic chaos, division and incompetence.
“Now more than ever, Scotland needs the full powers of independence to protect our interests from the chaos and damage of a an utterly broken Westminster system.”
Earlier this week former Labour minister Malcolm Chisholm said he could vote for independence if the Tories remain in power.
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