Jeremy Corbyn's unpopularity - as well as Brexit - was a major reason for Labour's worst general election result since 1935, according to a damning new poll of "real voters" by Tory pollster Lord Ashcroft.

His polling suggests Mr Corbyn was seen as weak, indecisive, lacking in patriotism, had "apparent terrorist sympathies", failed to deal with antisemitism, was "excessively left-wing" and unsuitable to lead the country.

Lord Ashcroft also claims traditional Labour voters deserted the party because it had lost touch with them and "looked down on them while taking their voters for granted" - and they believed its manifesto was "pie in the sky".

Why did Labour lose in its heartlands?

But the better news for Labour in Lord Ashcroft's polling is that most of its defectors to the Tories in the December election did not rule out returning to the party and were prepared to desert Boris Johnson and the Tories if he fails to deliver.

The findings by Lord Ashcroft, a millionaire and former Conservative grandee, will no doubt be dismissed by Labour activists and Corbyn loyalists since it contradicts the findings of the party's own inquiry into his heavy defeat, which did not blame the Labour leader.


"No doubt some will be suspicious of my motives. I'm a Tory, after all - indeed, a former deputy chairman of the party," Lord Ashcroft acknowledges in his introduction to his report, Diagnosis Of Defeat: Labour's Turn To Smell The Coffee, which he claims is "a pitiless but objective assessment".

"There are two answers to that," he says.

"The first is that the country needs a strong opposition. Britain will be better governed if those doing the governing are kept on their toes.

"Moreover, at its best, the Labour Party has been a great force for decency, speaking up for people throughout the country and ensuring nobody is forgotten. We need it to reclaim that role.

"The second answer is that you don't have to trust me - just listen to what real voters have to say."

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Lord Ashcroft says his report is based on extensive polling both among the general public and Labour Party members, together with focus groups with former Labour voters in seats the party lost to the Conservatives in December.

He says his research looks at those who voted Labour in 2017 but not in 2019, and compares their reasons for switching away from Labour with party members' understanding of why they lost.

Lord Ashcroft says his findings include:

Labour defectors were most likely to say they switched because they did not want Mr Corbyn to be prime minister, did not believe Labour would be able to deliver on their promises, no longer thought Labour represented people like them, and wanted to get Brexit done. Labour members thought the result was due to Brexit dominating the election, the media giving an unfair view of Mr Corbyn and Labour, and voters believing Conservative lies

Though many voted to get Brexit done, this did not mean they would necessarily now switch back to Labour. The principle that the party had refused to listen to them and implement the referendum result was at least as serious for defectors as the issue of Brexit itself

Contrary to Labour's official inquiry, Mr Corbyn was a major reason for Labour's loss of support. Former Labour voters in focus groups criticised what they saw as his weakness, indecision, lack of patriotism, apparent terrorist sympathies, failure to deal with antisemitism, outdated and excessively left-wing worldview, and obvious unsuitability to lead the country. Many described the 2019 Labour manifesto as "pie in the sky"

Aside from Brexit and Corbyn, many former Labour voters thought the party had ceased to represent them more generally, and was now mostly for students, the unemployed, and "middle-class radicals". There was a widespread feeling that the party looked down on them while taking their votes for granted

Despite this, most did not rule out returning to Labour in the future if the party changed. Many emphasised that they would now take each election as it comes. Though they were pleased with the election result and expected Boris Johnson to deliver, they would be prepared to look elsewhere if they were disappointed

Of the leadership contenders, Sir Keir Starmer scored the highest ratings among Labour members and voters as a whole. However, some Labour defectors associated him with the attempt to stop Brexit. Emily Thornberry was remembered as having "slagged off someone because he had an England flag outside his house", and Rebecca Long Bailey was described as "Jeremy in a skirt". Lisa Nandy was less well known, but some gave her credit for speaking out against Mr Corbyn's leadership.

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Lord Ashcroft writes: "As far as many of these former supporters were concerned, then, the Labour Party they rejected could not be trusted with the public finances, looked down on people who disagreed with it, was too left-wing, failed to understand or even listen to the people it was supposed to represent, was incompetent, appallingly divided, had no coherent priorities, did not understand aspiration or where prosperity comes from, disapproved of their values and treated them like fools."

And he concludes: "This report is not a roadmap to recovery: different people can draw sharply different conclusions from the same data, and I'm sure that will be the case with this research.

"But the first step is to come to terms with your starting point."