Poll boost for Jeremy Corbyn in Labour leadership battle

This is the first poll of those who are qualified to vote in the election and the figures show Corbyn leading his opponent Owen Smith by 62% (up from his 59% last year) to 38%.

But of those who joined during May to September previous year, while the lat contest was taking place, 72 per cent are backing Corbyn – and of those who joined since he became leader in September, a whopping 86 per cent are backing him.

The Labour leader, who has remained defiant in the face of a coup from his parliamentary colleagues, has majority support among all three groups that are eligible to vote in the contest – full members, registered supporters and union affiliates.

Most of this increase comes from the leader attracting new supporters, however.

However it will do little to assuage the concerns of the 172 Labour MPs who backed a no-confidence motion in Mr Corbyn – a move which ultimately led to Mr Smith’s challenge.

The divisions in the party have raised the prospect of a permanent split after the leadership vote and the YouGov survey found 39 percent of respondents believed this was either very or fairly likely.

John Lamont, Scottish Conservative chief whip, said: “Once more we see evidence of a Labour party in complete chaos over their position on a second independence referendum”.

This is the first poll of the Labour leadership selectorate and the 24-point margin (excluding don’t knows) will come as a major blow to the Owen Smith campaign.

The victor of the contest will be announced on 24 September.

Mr Corbyn is locked in a fierce battle with leadership challenger Owen Smith and the incumbent will use a speech in London this evening to flesh out his latest set of proposals to win over voters. He said that his party needs to be positive on immigration regardless of whether it leads to “electoral damage”.

Labour Party member Chris Ford, from Chingford, said he agreed with Mr McDonnell.

In an apparent dig at Mr Corbyn – who regularly addresses rallies for his loyal supporters – he told backers: “It’s not good enough for us to campaign in our comfort zones or in safe Labour heartlands”.

Asked if Scottish Labour should discuss the issue of backing independence, Mr Smith said there were “many things that are far more pressing and important than re-running the referendum in Scotland, on which there was a clear decision just a few months ago”. It is unpopular with the wider electorate, who reject a second vote by 54 per cent to 34 per cent.