POLLING carried out among members of the Labour Party has revealed what they really think about their current leader.
A YouGov survey, conducted for Sky News, found nearly seven in 10 members believe Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham would make a better leader than Sir Keir Starmer.
Burnham is currently not an MP and could therefore not stand to be leader in any upcoming contest.
All eyes are on the Batley and Spen by-election tomorrow, where Labour are widely expected to lose the seat to the Tories.
It would be the second seat in the north of England lost to Boris Johnson’s party this year, and a rare occurrence of any UK governing party managing to win two seats from the opposition in by-elections held in a single term.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer slams ‘abuse’ of Labour Batley and Spen by-election candidate
The YouGov poll found four in 10 Labour members want Starmer out if he does lose the West Yorkshire vote tomorrow, while 48% want him to stay.
Members in northern England are even more critical, with 50% saying he should leave if Batley and Spen is lost as opposed to just 42% of them wanting Starmer to stay around.
If a leadership contest was held suddenly among current MPs, Yvette Cooper (above) would win the highest level of support with 35% of members giving her their first preference.
Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, is on just 13%, deputy leader Angela Rayner on 12%, former leadership hopeful Rebecca Long Bailey on 11% and Richard Burgon on 6%.
However members would prefer Burnham overall with 69% believing he would make a better leader than Starmer.
READ MORE: Batley and Spen by-election: George Galloway condemned after Labour activists attacked
Little over half (55%) of Labour members think their current chief is doing well. Meanwhile, 94% believe Burnham is doing a good job, 87% are supportive of London mayor Sadiq Khan’s work, and 67% were pleased with Rayner.
A whopping 65% of Labour members believe their party will lose the next General Election, with just two in 10 feeling they could be victorious against the Tories.
Among younger members, the figures are even more grim. A massive 90% of 18-24-year-old members believe their party will not win the next election, and 63% feel Starmer will not even last in his position until that point.
Some 871 Labour members were interviewed between June 22-29.
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