LONDON – Michael Foster, one of Labour’s biggest donors, pledged to stand against the political party’s leader Jeremy Corbyn because of his “incoherence, weakness and lack of leadership,” which is leading to an “annihilation in the polls.”
Foster, who has given more than £400,000 to Labour since 2010, said in an article for The Sunday Times that traditional Labour voters “pray every day” that Corbyn will step down and are switching to the Conservative party because Corbyn’s “blinkered and ineffective” leadership.
There are a lot of things a political party looks for in a leader. Jeremy Corbyn possesses none of them. Because of him, Labour faces annihilation at the polls. That is not good for Labour, not good for what government does, and not good for Britain,” said Foster, a former showbusiness agent, in his article.
“I will be much criticised for speaking out against the leader of the party, and what I say, I do so in sorrow. The local elections on Thursday are the last chance for the Labour Party to assess the likely extent of the devastation at the general election. If the results are as bad as predicted, then Jeremy should stand down voluntarily and let someone else lead the fight in June.
“If he does not – and I don’t believe he ever would – I would be very happy to fight him and his fellow travellers on the extreme left of the party by standing in his constituency of Islington North.”
Foster was suspended from the Labour party last year after he compared Corbyn's team to Nazi "stormtroopers."
Currently, Theresa May's ruling Conservative party are tipped for a landslide victory in the June 8 general election. All polls show she has a huge lead over the main opposition Labour and polling points towards a 100 seat majority.
Meanwhile, Corbyn's Labour party is substantially behind the Tories in the polls. But the bright side is that the latest set of data on Saturday shows that he has stopped bleeding support and is actually increasing voting intention.