Should Jeremy Corbyn be doing better?

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If the Conservatives were trying to ensure that Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister, it is hard to see what they would have done differently since he became leader of the opposition.

Yet the Conservatives remain neck-and-neck with Labour in the opinion polls. The question “Should Jeremy Corbyn be doing better?” is beginning to be heard.

Some of his supporters will laugh at this. Weren’t they told that Corbyn would be a disaster? And didn’t he surprise everyone at this year’s general election?

They were and he did. In part this was because some of the factors that were supposed to make Corbyn unelectable – such as his proximity to Irish Republican terrorism – turned out to have happened too long ago to concern many voters.

But largely it was because his economic plans went unchallenged because of the unique incompetence of the Conservatives.

Can Labour really discard austerity and pay for all the extra spending without increasing tax for the average voter? It sounds unlikely, but thanks to the Tories we never found out.

Jeremy Corbyn cannot rely on such kind treatment if he fights another election. Nor will he face a Conservative leader so lacking in any of the qualities of leadership.

These are not the only reasons for suspecting that it may all be downhill from here.

There are the Remainers who will have had more years to contemplate Corbyn doing nothing to oppose Brexit.

There are the idealists who will have noticed that Labour is proposing to do more for the middle classes than the poor.

 And there are the voters who have grasped that winning a place in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet says more about your political loyalty than your ability – call it the Burgon Effect.

All of which suggests that it may all be downhill from here. And that means Labour should be worried that they are not in a clear lead in the opinion polls.