Corbyn will boost Labour’s chances in Scotland, say LabourList readers

LabourList readers overwhelmingly believe that Jeremy Corbyn will improve Scottish Labour’s chances in the Holyrood elections next month. A latest poll in Scotland gives the SNP a 35 point lead over Labour, but many believe that a more left wing Labour will begin to turn their fortunes around – 70% of people who took our survey this week think Corbyn will make things better by this May.

Given the dire straits Scottish Labour find themselves in, and the size of the task ahead, 21% of people who voted said they did not think Corbyn’s leadership would make a difference to Scottish Labour’s performance, while 5% think he will make things worse.

It seems it could be a while before Labour’s official policy on tuition fees changes. Currently, the party supports reducing fees from £9,000 to £6,000 a year. During the leadership contest, Corbyn revealed plans to scrap tuition fees at a cost of £10bn. With no parliamentary votes expected on changing fees, and with a lengthy process to go through before policy can be changed (especially as he is unlikely to win Shadow Cabinet support for the move), there are no plans to push through this policy quickly.

65% of people who took this week’s LabourList survey said they were in favour of spending £10bn on abolishing tuition fees, with only 26% disagreeing.

Last Friday, Zac Goldsmith was selected as the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London. He will go up against Labour’s Sadiq Khan. While Conor Pope last week wrote that Labour cannot take London for granted, Goldsmith’s lacklustre speech at Tory conference would have raised smiles in Khan’s campaign.

LabourList readers appear to be confident about Khan’s chances, after he was chosen to be Labour’s candidate with almost 60% of the vote last month. 50% of those who took the survey described themselves as quite confident about Khan’s chances next May, while 13% were very confident. After eight years of a Tory Mayor, 22% said they were not very confident, while 6% were not at all confident.

2,236 people voted in our survey this week. Thanks to everyone who took part.