Advertisement

Jeremy Corbyn's popularity plummets amid Russia comments and anti-semitism row

Jeremy Corbyn’s popularity has plummeted in the wake of the Salisbury poisoning and Labour’s anti-Semitism row, according to research from YouGov.

According to YouGov’s favourability data, the public sees Prime Minister Theresa May more favourably than the Labour leader for the first time since the General Election.

At the start of the year, Mr Corbyn was still comfortably ahead of Mrs May with a net favourability rating of -12 versus her -25, scores which had been fairly consistent since August 2017.

But by mid-March the PM had drawn level with a score of -15 to the Opposition Leader’s -19, and has now pulled ahead, leading -13 to Mr Corbyn’s -23.

The change in popularity for both leaders is likely to be down to recent events and the way they were handled.

They include the handling of the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in early March, which 53% of Britons said they thought Mrs May had handled well. In contrast, Mr Corbyn was only seen by 18% as having responded to the crisis well.

MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO

And when it came to the recent anti-Semitism row in the Labour party, just 15% of Brits feel that Mr Corbyn has handled it well, compared to 46% who believe he has handled it badly.

The change in fortunes for Mr Corbyn’s popularity are echoed by the favourability towards the Labour Party, which has followed a similar pattern according to YouGov, dropping from -8 in January to -17 now.