Labour MPs face polling wipeout New analysis suggests city big-hitters would be defeated with Corbyn as leader
FIVE West Midland Labour MPs are likely to lose their seats if Jeremy Corbyn leads the party into a general election, latest opinion polls suggest.
A new poll found 42 per cent of voters said they would back the Conservatives if an election was held tomorrow – and just 28 per cent would back Labour, which is in the midst of a civil war over Corbyn’s leadership.
The YouGov poll for the Times found eight per cent would vote Lib Dem and 12 per cent would back UKIP. It is a dire result for Corbyn and would mean the Tories were back in power with a bigger majority at the next election.
Using website Electoral Calculus, it was possible to predict which seats are likely to change hands if this was indeed the result :
Birmingham Edgbaston’s Labour MP Gisela Stuart would lose her seat to the Conservatives;
Birmingham Northfield’s Labour MP Richard Burden would lose to the Conservatives;
Walsall North, currently held by Labour MP David Winnick, would be won by the Conservatives;
Wolverhampton South West Labour MP Rob Marris would lose to a Conservative candidate;
Coventry South, currently held by Labour’s Jim Cunningham, would be won by the Conservatives.
Critics accused polling companies of getting it wrong in the last general election – but they have tended to over-estimate the strength of Labour support rather than under-estimate it.
Labour’s current poor showing in the polls may be partly as a result of a ‘honeymoon’ period for Prime Minister Theresa May, who became Conservative leader in July.
But it undoubtedly has more to do with the party’s fierce internal battle with hard left Corbyn grimly holding on in the face of a parliamentary party which has mostly rejected him.
The party is currently in the middle of a leadership contest as former Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Owen Smith seeks to replace beleaguered Corbyn.
A number of West Midlands MPs have nominated the rival candidate.
The winner, chosen by party members, registered supporters and members of affiliated groups such as trade unions, will be announced on Saturday, 24 September.