Jeremy Corbyn could go BEFORE the next General Election if he decides to quit early, his new campaign chief admits

LABOUR’s newly appointed campaign chief has admitted Jeremy Corbyn could go before the next General Election.

Ian Lavery, who only got his job last week, said there were plenty of people to pick from to lead Labour “if and when” the arch leftie decides to quit.

The Northumberland MP insisted it wasn’t the case “at this point in time”.

But he told the BBC :”There are plenty of leaders to pick from if and when Jeremy decides of his own volition that it’s not for him at the election.”

The remarks came just hours after reports the party was conducting secret “succession planning” after disastrous internal polling.

Sources claimed BMG Research were testing the public appeal of two rising stars, Angela Rayner and Rebecca Long Bailey, after a damning verdict on the Labour leader.

Brits said Mr Corbyn was the most unpopular leader of all parties, looked “bored”, “fed up” and appeared like a “scruffy school kid”.

It follows a YouGov poll which found Mr Corbyn had now fallen out of favour with voters of every political party, all age groups and all social groupings.

Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson today insisted he believed the Labour leadership had been “settled” until the 2020 Election.

But he admitted the past 18 months had been “tough” and said Jeremy Corbyn had to improve.

He added that unless Labour developed a “compelling” immigration policy it would be impossible to win the next General Election.

And the heavyweight said he had no idea if Labour would come first in the two, upcoming ‘must-win’ by-elections of Stoke and Copeland.

Mr Watson said: “It is (Jeremy’s) duty to lead the official Opposition through a period of unprecedented economic uncertainty and he will be tested.

“He has to explain those and he has to improve on them and he’s well aware of that.”

Mr Watson insisted the polling was a routine piece of research to gauge the popularity of politicians in the region. Mr Lavery said losing the by-elections would prove a “hiccup”.

And he said: “Everyone in the Shadow Cabinet has the potential to be the next leader.”

But a Conservative spokeswoman said: “Once again Labour have shown they are divided, incompetent and out of touch with ordinary working people.

“It doesn’t matter who is in charge of this shambles. The Labour Party of today would crash our economy, fail to control our borders – and they want to weaken our defences too.”