Public believe Labour is now more divided than ever

An overwhelming majority of voters believe that the Labour Party has never been more divided, despite Jeremy Corbyn’s landslide victory today.

New polling shows that 74 per cent of people think the party is more fractured than ever before, while just 16 per cent say Labour is on course for election victory under Jeremy Corbyn.

The latest ComRes research for The Independent and the Sunday Mirror reveals the scale of Corbyn’s task now that he has tightened his grip on the leadership.

Almost as many (35 per cent) of Labour’s 2015 voters share Neil Kinnock’s fear of a ‘hard left takeover’ of the party as do not (36 per cent), and almost half of all voters (48 per cent) do not believe that Corbyn is inspiring a new political generation compared to 31 per cent who think that he is.

However, 41 per cent of people do believe that Corbyn is succeeding at taking politics out of the ‘Westminster bubble’, while just 24 per cent disagree.

Overall, though, the polling indicates the challenge ahead for Corbyn. Despite his appeals for unity in his acceptance speech today, the divisions within the party have filtered into the public consciousness. With only 45 per cent saying they know what Labour stands for, Corbyn will also hope to stamp the party with his own style and politics in the months ahead.