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| Jeremy Corbyn blames leadership contest for low poll ratings | Jeremy Corbyn blames leadership contest for low poll ratings |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Jeremy Corbyn has attributed Labour’s low rating in opinion polls to the distraction of the leadership contest and said some Labour MPs will never be satisfied. | Jeremy Corbyn has attributed Labour’s low rating in opinion polls to the distraction of the leadership contest and said some Labour MPs will never be satisfied. |
| The Labour leader said he would continue to be optimistic and offer hope while seeing how the polls developed as the party set out its economic plans. | The Labour leader said he would continue to be optimistic and offer hope while seeing how the polls developed as the party set out its economic plans. |
| Labour has sunk to its lowest level in polls since Gordon Brown was in charge after the financial crisis in 2009, with ratings ranging from 25% to around 28%. | |
| The figures suggest dozens of Labour MPs could lose their seats and there would be a decisive Conservative majority if Theresa May decided to call a snap general election to get a mandate for her Brexit strategy. | |
| After Labour was relegated into fourth place in the Sleaford byelection and lost its deposit in Richmond, some senior figures in the party have said Corbyn has a year to appeal to a wider base. | After Labour was relegated into fourth place in the Sleaford byelection and lost its deposit in Richmond, some senior figures in the party have said Corbyn has a year to appeal to a wider base. |
| But in an interview with the New Statesman, the leader appeared relaxed about Labour’s prospects, and highlighted his success in increasing membership. | But in an interview with the New Statesman, the leader appeared relaxed about Labour’s prospects, and highlighted his success in increasing membership. |
| Asked about the polling, Corbyn said: “We were distracted by the leadership contest when we could have been attacking the Tories. We’ll see how they [the polls] develop as we develop our economic programme. We have got to be optimistic. We have got to offer hope, not blame.” | Asked about the polling, Corbyn said: “We were distracted by the leadership contest when we could have been attacking the Tories. We’ll see how they [the polls] develop as we develop our economic programme. We have got to be optimistic. We have got to offer hope, not blame.” |
| Pressed on why some voters apparently were not listening, he said: “It’s extremely noisy, there is a lot of hate out there. But people also think about things more deeply than many give them credit for. And a lot of media tend to speak to a lot of other media and don’t recognise that there’s a whole parallel system of information going on through social media that never touches the rest of it. | Pressed on why some voters apparently were not listening, he said: “It’s extremely noisy, there is a lot of hate out there. But people also think about things more deeply than many give them credit for. And a lot of media tend to speak to a lot of other media and don’t recognise that there’s a whole parallel system of information going on through social media that never touches the rest of it. |
| “So there are different forms of communication going on, and the dangers of racist populism are very serious indeed. And you have to confront it.” | “So there are different forms of communication going on, and the dangers of racist populism are very serious indeed. And you have to confront it.” |
| He said some Labour MPs would never accept his leadership. “Some people are just never satisfied,” he said. “Look, I hope they all have a wonderful Christmas, and I hope that we can do what we did on the schools, on the health service, on the economy, and win the election campaigns to come. We are on the way. We are hopeful. We are confident. And we are committed.” | He said some Labour MPs would never accept his leadership. “Some people are just never satisfied,” he said. “Look, I hope they all have a wonderful Christmas, and I hope that we can do what we did on the schools, on the health service, on the economy, and win the election campaigns to come. We are on the way. We are hopeful. We are confident. And we are committed.” |