The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has the support of half his party’s grassroots members, a poll published on Thursday showed, as he faces intense pressure to resign or face a leadership challenge.
The YouGov poll for the Times newspaper showed 50 percent of party members would back Corbyn in a leadership contest, and 47 percent said they would not support him. A previous poll showed 64 percent would have voted for him in early May.
Corbyn has refused to stand aside despite a revolt among the party’s elected lawmakers, who say he did not campaign hard enough for a ‘Remain’ vote in the country’s European union referendum, and who fear he cannot lead them to an election victory.
Corbyn’s critics are expected to unite behind a new candidate and trigger a formal leadership challenge in the coming days.