The final result of our last Party members’ survey of 2019 is on the question of the Labour leadership. Who do our survey panel believe would be the most effective Labour leader?
Of the four names put forward – on the 23rd and 24th of December – one was ahead by a large margin. Keir Starmer received 61.76 per cent of the vote, leaving Angela Rayner, Rebecca Long Bailey and David Lammy in the dust.
There are other possible candidates, but at minimum this is an absolute shocker for Long Bailey, the heir presumptive to Jeremy Corbyn.
Dually so, in fact: not only is she miles behind Starmer, but her 10 per cent is outdone by Rayner’s 18.6 per cent. Rayner, Long Bailey’s close friend and housemate, is currently expected to go for the deputy job. But this survey suggests Tory members agree with the wag who said recently that “Rebecca Long Bailey isn’t even the best Labour leader in her own flat”.
This can, of course, cut both ways. Starmer supporters might now argue their man is the leader Tories are worried about, but the Corbynites will presumably retort that our survey simply shows he is the Tories’ favourite Labour politician. Tomayto, tomato, potato, potahto…maybe they should call the whole thing off?