Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Voters want Harman to be next Labour deputy leader

Colin Brown
Sunday 26 November 2006 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Voters appear to want a woman to replace John Prescott as the deputy leader of the Labour Party, after Harriet Harman emerged as the favourite in a YouGov poll of nearly 2000 voters.

Fifteen per cent said that electing Ms Harman would make them more likely to vote Labour at the next general election, beating Hilary Benn into second place on 12 per cent. No other candidates looked at in the poll got out of single figures.

Ms Harman's supporters said her lead was far larger amongswing voters and female voters.

Twenty-four per cent of voters gave Ms Harman a warm personal rating, compared with 17 per cent for Hilary Benn, 15 per cent for Alan Johnson, 13 per cent for Peter Hain, 7 per cent for Hazel Blears and 5 per cent for Jon Cruddas.

One Harman supporter said: "The only other woman who looks set to enter the race - Hazel Blears (the Labour Party chairman) - scored just 7 per cent, showing that Harriet's strong showing is not just because she is a woman, but a result of her strong personal appeal. Harriet was the only candidate ... to have a net positive appeal amongst women. For all the other candidates, more women said that if that person was elected deputy they would be less likely to vote Labour than said it would be more likely."

Many women are also undecided about the Tory leader, David Cameron, according to an Ipsos Mori poll for the Fawcett Society. It found 38 per cent of women have yet to make their mind up about Mr Cameron.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in