A new opinion poll by Opinium has been released today, showing one fascinating detail: Labour voters prefer Jo Swinson, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, to Jeremy Corbyn.
It will come as a danger sign to the Labour Party, who have recently been haemorrhaging votes to the Lib Dems, with around a quarter of 2017 Labour voters now making the switch to the pro-European party. Commentators suggest that this is because of Labour’s staunchly pro-Brexit position, confirmed again by Emily Thornberry twice this week, who said that Labour want to negotiate an exit deal with the EU, and leave the European Union.
Jo Swinson’s popularity is on the rise more broadly too, with another poll by Panelbase showing her to be the most popular party leader in Britain full stop. It comes after her triple lock plan to stop a no deal Brexit was accepted by Jeremy Corbyn and other parties across the House of Commons, on top of her clear opposition to Brexit, as well as fighting against the climate crisis and for social justice. Three MPs have defected to the Liberal Democrats this week, meaning the party is now more than double the size it was three years ago in the Commons, and roughly three times the size it was in 2015 in terms of members.
A Lib Dem source told The Torch that “this is proof that the Lib Dems are the strongest party of Remain, and the popular national choice for progressive, pro-environmental, internationalist politics. With over 120,000 members and now 17 MPs, it’s time for people who want a better Britain to join the party and get fighting for the future.”