JEREMY Corbyn was the main reason Labour supporters ditched the party, a new poll released today has revealed.
The hard-left leader pinned his party’s catastrophic loss far from his own leadership, claiming the election had been overtaken by Brexit.
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But an Opinium poll revealed more than a third of voters who had supported Labour in 2017 had defected due to the party’s leadership.
The damning poll also shows just 21 per cent defected away from Labour due to the party’s mixed up stance on Brexit.
Just six per cent defected due to the economic policies.
But despite the results, deluded Mr Corbyn is refusing to stand down – instead saying he would cling onto power until a contest will be held in the “early part of next year”.
Breaking his silence on his night of horror, Corbyn insisted his policies were “popular” and he would not “walk away” until his successor was in place “in the early part of next year.”
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He said: “I have pride in our manifesto that we put forward, and all the policies we put forward, which actually had huge public support.
“Of course I take responsibility for putting the manifesto forward, but I have to say, the manifesto was universally supported, throughout our party and throughout our movement.”
Asked if Corbnynism was dead, he replied: “There’s no such thing as Corbynism. There is socialism, there is social justice, there are radical manifestos, all of which are there.”
Corbyn went on to tell reporters he’d done “everything he could” to develop its policies as he took aim at “disgusting” media abuse.
Pinning the blame far away from his disastrous leadership, he added: “This election was ultimately taken over by Brexit and we as a party represent people who voted both Remain and Leave.
“My whole strategy was to reach out beyond the Brexit divide to try and bring people together, because ultimately the country has to come together.”
Unite leader Len McCluskey today was among those to come out swinging at Corbyn – blaming the Labour leader’s mess of policies for the landslide loss.
Writing for HuffPost UK, the union’s general secretary listed reasons for the party’s catastrophic defeat, saying: “Firstly, the incontinent rush of policies which appeared to offer everything to everyone immediately, and thereby strained voter credulity as well as obscuring the party’s sense of priorities.
“Secondly, failure to apologise for anti-Semitism in the party when pressed to do so, capping years of mishandling of this question.”
Meanwhile a triumphant Boris Johnson said he wanted to see the country heal – and put the NHS at the centre.
He added: “We are going to unite and level up… Bringing together the whole of this incredible United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland together, taking us forward, unleashing the potential of the whole country, delivering opportunity across the entire nation.”
Boris’ snap General Election gamble paid off as he romped home with a majority of 80. St Ives was the last seat to declare just before 3pm today, with the Tories winning an increased majority there.
