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Labour's ratings have plunged after a year of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership to the point where barely a quarter of people think it is fit to run the country, a damning poll reveals today.

Just 21 per cent think Labour now has “a good team of leaders”, which has slumped from 27 per cent in September 2015 when Mr Corbyn took charge, found Ipsos MORI researchers. Only 26 per cent think the party is “fit to govern”, down from 35 per cent.

The disastrous findings come as Labour was pushed from second into third place in the Witney by-election.

In another blow, former leader Neil Kinnock warned that the party could be reduced to a tiny rump of just 165 MPs at the next general election.

Asked by Time magazine if he thought Labour faced a wipe-out on the scale of the Tory defeat in 1997, Lord Kinnock said: “They had 165 seats in 1997. That’s the ballpark. Just working on the basis of the polling figures over the last year, with trends … Nobody’s come back from here.”

Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson told Time that if Mr Corbyn stayed in charge after 2020, “people might seriously start thinking this is the end of the Labour Party.”

Labour has slumped on a series of key indicators since over Mr Corbyn’s first year and is beaten by the Conservatives on almost all positive attributes.

More than half – 53 per cent – said the Conservatives are fit to govern, while 47 per cent felt Theresa May has a good team of leaders.

In addition, the Conservatives have overtaken Labour as the party that is most seen as understanding the problems facing Britain – leading by 48 per cent to 41 – and for “looking after the interests of people like me” – a Tory lead of 38 to 33 per cent.

Labour’s ratings are markedly lower than former leader Ed Miliband had just a month before he took the party to its worst defeat in a generation in 2015.

Even under Mr Miliband, four in 10 saw Labour as fit to govern and a majority of 52 per cent thought the party understood Britain’s problems.

More than eight in 10 people say Labour are divided, compared with 52 per cent who say the same of the Tories. Six in 10 see Labour as “out of date”, while 45 per cent say the same of the Tories. More people see Labour as “extreme” too.

Labour’s best lead is for showing concern for people in real need. But even here the gap has narrowed from 61-32 to 56-37.

Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said: “Labour has made no progress on key competency ratings over the year, where it lies a long way behind the Conservatives, while it has also slipped on some ‘softer’ image issues too.

"Notably, its image as being divided remains very high, despite Jeremy Corbyn’s second leadership victory last month.”