Labour continues to struggle to build support among voters as aides try to revitalise Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership by capitalising on his radical credentials, according to the latest research for the Observer.

The first Opinium/Observer poll of 2017 shows that the party’s two percentage point rise in popularity in December has been followed by a one-point drop since the new year.



It suggests that if a general election were called now, the Tories would win 38% of the vote, giving them a commanding lead over Labour, which is on 30%. Ukip and the Liberal Democrats were both up one point, on 14% and 7% respectively.

The poll showed the Conservatives remain by far the most trusted party to lead negotiations to leave the EU, on 30%, with support for Labour’s Brexit stance slipping one point to 13% as confusion continues over the party’s message on immigration.

Almost half of UK adults think it is unlikely Britain will be able to stay in the European single market while stopping free movement of labour, Opinium found. Only 18% think it is likely, a percentage which is the same among leave and remain voters.

If the government has to choose between staying in the single market or ending free movement, 41% would opt for the latter, and 32% the former.

Just over half of adults agreed that having some restrictions on the overall number of EU immigrants will not damage UK businesses, but 40% also think businesses will suffer if they are unable to hire any migrant labour from the EU, while 32% disagree.

The battle lines were again drawn between Brexit supporters and opponents, with 53% of leave voters thinking British businesses will not suffer if the supply of EU labour is completely cut off and 66% of remain voters thinking it will.

Overall however, Brexit and immigration have slipped in perceived importance compared with health and the NHS, as the crisis in the healthcare system deepens. The proportion of respondents viewing the NHS as the most crucial issue facing the country rose eight points to 61%, while immigration fell two points to 41% and Brexit one point to 36%.

Despite the Conservatives’ record on the NHS, Theresa May retains her positive net approval rating, although it has slipped three points since last month to 11% overall.

This still leaves her head and shoulders above her rivals in opposing parties, all of whom registered negative net approval ratings, with Corbyn on -27%.

More bad poll news for Jeremy Corbyn came in the form of a ComRes survey for the Sunday Mirror and the Independent, which revealed that 43% of respondents thought the Tories would be better at managing the NHS this winter, compared with 31% who thought Labour would.

The poor showing for Labour came despite the fact that almost half of those polled – 47% – agreed that the Red Cross was right to say the NHS was in a “humanitarian crisis”.

Opinium Research carried out an online survey of 2,007 UK adults aged 18+ from 10-12 January 2017. Results have been weighted to representative criteria.

