A FORMER Labour minister warned Labour is finished as an electoral force if Jeremy Corbyn leads the party into the next general election.
Tom Harris, who lost Glasgow South in the poll in May, said the UK Labour leader was a “genuinely nice guy”, but was entirely unsuitable to be party leader or prime minister.
It comes as the most recent UK-wide poll puts the Conservatives 15 points ahead of Labour after a difficult week for Mr Corbyn, which commentators have labelled his worst yet.
The former MP predicted a potential George Osborne led Tory party would be handed a gift were Mr Corbyn to remain in post until 2020.
But Mr Harris also cautioned that Labour could split if Mr Corbyn is removed as leader before the next general election.
The former transport minister said: “He’s lovely and he’s a genuinely nice guy. I really liked him. But he’s totally, totally unsuitable to be leader of the Labour Party and unsuited to be prime minister, but that matters less because that’s never going to happen.
“The British constitution has a failsafe measure to ensure people of extreme views never become prime minister and it’s called the electorate.
“Given the Labour party’s talent for self-destruction I think it’s more likely that he’ll lead us into the next general election, which is great news for Prime Minister Osborne but not great news for the Labour Party,” he said.
“I think if Corbyn stays as leader until the general election Labour’s finished. In those circumstances I think it would be virtually impossible to mount a serious challenge for government again.”
Mr Harris said if MPs oust their leader before the next general election the new party members and supporters, who have joined Labour since Mr Corbyn’s rise, would leave to form their own grouping.
A recent poll found two-thirds of members back Mr Corbyn as leader, and would likely re-elect him were he to be toppled.
“The Labour Party is two separate parties. It’s not a broad church. The two wings of the party are so far apart now there is very little common ground between them and at some point something will have to give,” Mr Harris said.
“If the Parliamentary Labour Party was to get rid of Corbyn somehow, all those new members would walk away and form their own party.
Mr Harris said Mr Corbyn’s unpopularity was also affecting the party’s chances in Scotland and it would struggle until Corbyn's successor is found.
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