Hard-left Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn has taken another big step towards the Labour leadership with a new poll suggesting he may have the backing of more than half of the party's supporters.

The Islington North MP would beat nearest rival Andy Burnham by 53 per cent to 47 per cent, according to the YouGov/Times survey of 1,054 people who are eligible to vote in the contest.

It follows two private, unconfirmed polls, suggesting Mr Corbyn is on course to succeed Ed Miliband.

In the YouGov poll, people were also asked about their first preference votes. In this, Mr Corbyn is again ahead, by 17 points.

The polls appear to suggest that the 66-year-old backbencher who has campaigned against austerity measures, nuclear weapons and the Iraq war has a groundswell of support among grassroots party members.

Former Labour home secretary David Blunkett said the party was suffering emotional trauma, adding the leadership contest had thus far failed to address 'where we go from here.''

In the US, former leadership contender Chuka Umunna will argue today that under Miliband the party had behaved like a protest group. He will add: "We urgently need to modernise again so people give us back their trust to govern once more and fulfil our historic promise."