Corbyn struggles to win support from Labour MPs in new survey

Theresa May (25%) and David Cameron (26%) have been voted the most impressive parliamentarians by their fellow MPs. The Prime Minister and her predecessor top the leader board in an annual Ipsos survey which asks MPs to name the parliamentarian they find the most impressive. This follows a general trend seen over the course of the survey of MPs naming their current party leader as the most impressive parliamentarian. However, in contrast, mentions of the Labour party leader by Labour MPs have been in decline in recent years, and Jeremy Corbyn receives a record low number of mentions this year, with just one mention from a Conservative MP. Amongst Labour MPs Hilary Benn is named the most impressive parliamentarian, mentioned by 10%. Angela Eagle receives the same proportion of mentions, closely followed by Owen Smith and Yvette Cooper, both of whom receive 7% of mentions. The MP seen as most impressive amongst Labour MPs is in fact Theresa May, receiving 35% of mentions. Reflecting his difficult relations with the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), Corbyn’s low number of mentions is in contrast to those of previous leaders Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband. Brown is the party leader who received the highest proportion of mentions amongst his own MPs over the course of the survey, receiving 60% of mentions in Summer 2007 (39% among all MPs).

Commenting on the findings, Ben Page, Chief Executive, Ipsos, said:

“The latest results from our annual survey of MPs are frankly unprecedented. Never before has a party leader received such low ratings from fellow MPs, but it is not surprising given the difficulties Jeremy Corbyn has had with the PLP.”

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Technical note Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of Members of Parliament between 9th June and 26th July 2016. A total of 101 MPs were interviewed, including 51 Conservative MPs, 40 Labour MPs, 6 SNP MPs and 4 other MPs. A mix of both front and back bench MPs were interviewed. For more information, see our MPs Surveys page.