As Labour maintain poll lead, Khan calls for focus to be on winning in May

The latest poll by ComRes shows that since last month the Labour Party have maintained their four-point lead over the Tories, despite rumours about calls for Miliband to go.

The ComRes study for the Sunday Mirror and Independent on Sunday showed Labour on 34% and the Tories on 30%. However, the number of people who said they could imagine Miliband as Prime Minister has dropped to 20% – when a year ago it was 25% Although Cameron fairs better on this question, with gets 37%, 29% think Miliband would stand up for working people, compared to Cameron’s 22%.

As this news came, Sadiq Khan, Shadow Justice Secretary, Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Minister for London, told the Guardian that following rumours some MPs were trying to organise a leadership challenge against Miliband, the party needed to remain united and committed to winning in May. He explained:

“There’s a great Alex Ferguson saying …where in a season when Man United and Newcastle were neck-and-neck, he said it’s squeaky bum time. And I think it’s squeaky bum time for Labour.

“History tells us that whenever Labour loses a general election, we spend aeons out of office. We fight among ourselves and often spilt … What we’re trying to do is something not done since 1974 – that’s to be a one-term opposition and bounce back from the second worst result in our history. Some of my colleagues need to recognise there’s no rule of politics that means you bounce back like a pendulum. You’ve got to have the humility to learn the right lessons, be proud of the things you got right and earn it.

“We lost really badly and people forget that. But we’re competitive again, and we’ve great set of candidates and policies. Politics is a team sport. It’s really easy to blame the leader. We’ve all got a role to play  … Rather than people complaining on the sidelines, they should get on the pitch and help us win the election.”