Jeremy Corbyn – Labour’s election gift to Mrs. May and the Tories
Canvassing in S London Labour seat and every 2nd house it was Jeremy. Never heard such hostility in 4 decades.
— Denis MacShane (@DenisMacShane) May 14, 2017
@MSmithsonPB Canvassing for the Conservatives yesterday, I got a "I like Labour but don't like HIM". Don't need to mention the name anymore.
— Darren the Situation (@darrensituation) May 14, 2017
Towards the end of last week I had a long conversation with a Conservative activist who has been canvassing in key target seats in the southeast.
He had been working in the Dagenham and Rainham parliamentary constituency mostly focussing former council estates which at past elections have been pretty solid for Labour. What was striking, he told me, was the massive negative reaction to Jeremy Corbyn that he was getting on the doorstep and how quite a few of those being canvassed wanted to use the conversation to vent the anger with the Labour leader.
The reaction was in some contrast to the middle class areas of the constituency where there was a move to the Conservatives but not nothing like on the scale as on the former council estates.
What is interesting is that this is also the reaction that many Labour canvassers are finding. The Tweet above from the former Labour MP and ex-BBC colleague of mine, Denis MacShane, is typical.
The Lib Dems I know who been out in target seats are also experiencing a lot of hostility towards to the man who has convincingly won two LAB leadership elections.
This is of course all reflected in the polls. Upto GE2015 LAB could largely take the working class vote for granted but now large swathes of it have disappeared.
From what I can gather everything that was predicted about Corbyn’s leadership in a general election is actually happening. He is proving a massive negative and his supporters are left trying to find even more excuses.