Labour MP tears apart Jeremy Corbyn's "clearly rejected" campaign
17 December 2019, 16:51
A Labour MP has strongly criticised Jeremy Corbyn's election strategy following the party's heavy defeat in the recent general election.
Siobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitcham and Morden, called for the Labour leader to stand down immediately and allow an interim leader to take his place after the public "rejected Labour and Jeremy Corbyn's Labour soundly".
"Corbynism and the manifesto was clearly rejected. One of the shocking statistics I learned today was only 35% of households with an income of less than £20,000 a year voted Labour - 45% of them voted of them voted Conservative."
The MP was referencing a poll by YouGov which showed the Conservatives were more popular among low-income and unemployed voters than the Labour Party.
Ms McDonagh said she was "open-minded" about who she would support to become the next Labour leader, but said she hoped Jess Phillips would stand in the contest.
Talking about her experience of campaigning, the MP said: "I had one particular lady that I canvassed in Mitcham over the course of the election, who said 'Siobhain I'm really sorry, I really like you, I've always voted for you, but I can't vote for that Corbyn and I'm gonna vote Conservative.
"She then went on to say 'you've done a great job with the NHS and supporting St Heliers A&E, I'm really against zero hours contracts and we need to give young people something to do in the evenings and weekends'".
"I walked down the path with a young woman who was a big Jeremy fan, in who's a member of the local a party and I said 'you do realise that woman has all the core Labour values, but can't vote for us?'"
Mr Corbyn is expected to stand down in March and the Labour leadership contest will be held shortly afterwards.
