Jeremy Corbyn woos Londoners as Ukip and Lib Dems flock to Labour leadership frontrunner
Jeremy Corbyn is not just making waves in left-wing circles; the Labour leadership frontrunner is the favourite in the four-horse-race among Londoners to become Ed Miliband's successor on 12 September. A YouGov poll found almost half (46%) of respondents in the capital thought the Islington North MP would be the best candidate to lead Labour into the 2020 general election.
The survey, which was commissioned by The Evening Standard and questioned more than 1,100 adults in London, also put Andy Burnham on 21%, Yvette Cooper on 20%, and Liz Kendall on 12%. The research surprisingly revealed that Corbyn, despite his socialist stance, had the most support among Ukip (62%) and Liberal Democrat (36%) voters.
I have chosen Scotland to set out the values and policies I'm standing to deliver, on the day the ballot papers are sent out, because Scotland is one of several examples of how Labour has become disconnected
Meanwhile, Conservative supporters selected Burnham as their "best leader", with Corbyn and Kendall sharing second place on 25% and Cooper on 22%. The figures come as Labour sends out the ballot papers for the election. The party said on Wednesday night (12 August) that more than 610,000 have signed up to vote in the competition, including 189,703 affiliated members, 121,295 "supporters" and 299,755 members.
Corbyn is touring Scotland and is expected to address his supporters in Edinburgh later today (14 August).
He has launched a 10-point plan for a "fairer and more successful" Britain, saying: "Labour cannot win in Scotland without change; and Labour cannot have a path back to power that fails to speak to Scotland. This plan of the values and ideas I'm standing to deliver are intended to speak to all parts of Britain, not setting one against another as the Tories have done. Combined they are a new kind of politics: a fairer, kinder Britain based on innovation, decent jobs and decent public services."
Kendall, the "Blairite" outsider in the contest, attacked Corbyn on 14 August and warned that voting for the socialist would sign a "resignation letter to the British people as a serious party of government". She also told BBC 4's Today Programme: "His programme isn't new, it's exactly the same as it was in the 1980s and we'll get the same result."
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