Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and shadow heath secretary Jonathan Ashworth | Peter Summers/Getty Images Labour shadow minister: Voters ‘can’t stand Corbyn’ In leaked recording, Jonathan Ashworth says the election looks ‘dire for Labour.’

LONDON — One of Labour's top team told a friend the party’s electoral prospects are “dire” because voters outside metropolitan areas “can’t stand Corbyn.”

In a recording leaked to Guido Fawkes, Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said “outside of the city seats, if you’re in sort of small town Midlands and North, it’s abysmal out there.”

“They don’t like [Boris] Johnson but they can’t stand [Jeremy] Corbyn and they think Labour’s blocked Brexit,” he said. “I don’t think they’re long-term gains for the Tory Party but I can well see them going Tory at this election.”

He said Labour was successfully appealing to “middle-class graduates — Remainy people” but that it was “not in big enough numbers to deny the Tories a majority.”

Ashworth said Labour needed to “get itself a half-decent leader next time round” to reverse those losses and regain its “traditional heartland seats.”

On whether Corbyn was a threat to national security, Ashworth said: “I don’t know, on the security stuff; I worked in No. 10, I think the machine will pretty quickly move to safeguard security — I mean the civil service machine.” He added: “But it’s not going to happen! I cannot see it happening!”

Responding to the leak on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire Show, Ashworth said the tape was real but he had been “joshing around” with a Tory activist. “It’s a bit like when you’re saying to your mate who’s a fan of a rival football team, don’t worry, your team’s gonna win.” He added: “I’m winding a mate up” and described his comments as “banter.”

He added he was “saddened” that his friend had leaked the conversation. “This is a mate I spent three weeks with going around America and he’s leaked it all ... obviously I’m not going to go for a drink with him again.”

He told the BBC he didn’t mean it when he said the party “f***ed it up” when they chose Corbyn as leader.

Before becoming an MP, Ashworth worked as an adviser for Gordon Brown in Downing Street and as head of party relations for Ed Miliband.

Conservative Party Chairman James Cleverly said: “This is an honest and truly devastating assessment of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership by one of his most trusted election lieutenants. He admits that Labour has blocked Brexit and that is why voters ‘can’t stand Corbyn.’”

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