Jeremy Corbyn has better judgment, and is more likeable than Theresa May, say voters in new poll

Likeable: Jeremy Corbyn poses with rapper Stormzy at an awards bash

Dave Benett

Nicholas Cecil, Political Editor @nicholascecil|Joe Murphy @JoeMurphyLondon21 September 2017

Jeremy Corbyn has leapfrogged Theresa May for having sound judgment and likeability in the eyes of the public, says an exclusive new poll.

The Labour leader has also overtaken the Prime Minister on the question of having “a lot of personality”.

The findings in an Ipsos MORI poll for the Standard came as both leaders enter the conference season with huge doubts whether either of them can lead their party to electoral success in 2022.

The Labour leader’s ratings have been transformed since last September and the poll is likely to ring alarm bells among Tory MPs.

The poll shows Mrs May may be slightly improving her standing among the public since July despite her disastrous June snap election

AFP/Getty Images

But there are signs that Mrs May may be slightly improving her standing among the public since July despite her disastrous June snap election and Brexit turmoils.

The Prime Minister is also still seen by more voters as being a capable leader, good in a crisis and patriotic.

The survey found:

Four in 10 voters say Mr Corbyn has sound judgment, up 10 points in a year, while Mrs May’s score on this has plummeted from 56 to 36 per cent.
46 per cent of the public like the Labour leader, a rise from 37 per cent in September 2016, while the figure for the Prime Minister has fallen from 60 to 38 per cent.
Mrs May’s rating as a capable leader has dropped from 68 to 45 per cent but she is still ahead of Mr Corbyn, who is up from 24 to 38 per cent.
The PM is seen by four out of 10 voters as good in a crisis, compared with three out of 10 for the Labour leader.
Mrs May’s net satisfaction rating — the number of voters satisfied with her minus the number dissatisfied — has got slightly better from -25 in July after her bungled election but is still -17.
In a stark finding, 72 per cent said she was patriotic compared with just 46 per cent for Mr Corbyn.
More than four in 10 voters believe both Tories and Labour should change leader before the next general election.

Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said: “The public have clearly warmed to Jeremy Corbyn’s style, and cooled on Theresa May, over the last year. But Theresa May still leads on some competence issues such as capability and handling a crisis.”

Ipsos MORI interviewed 1,023 adults between September 15 and 18. Data are weighted.