LABOUR should be 20 points ahead in the opinion polls according to former party leader Tony Blair.

The former PM, who led Labour to three election victories, reckons Theresa May’s shambolic government should be trailing much further behind the opposition than the three point deficit shown by new polling.

After enduring a gloomy summer, culminating in a calamitous party conference, Mrs May’s position has become even more parlous as the departures of disgraced ministers and Boris Johnson’s limitless buffoonery threaten her government’s slim majority and credibility.

Mr Blair makes a good point that amid such chaos, Labour and its leader should be streaking ahead in the popularity stakes. But time and again Mr Corbyn has failed to skewer the PM. Labour appears content to sit back and let the Government tear itself apart or at least stumble on with Mrs May at the helm.

Labour may come to rue this wait-and-see strategy. When the John Major Government floundered Mr Blair and his team piled on pressure, offering voters a compelling alternative which eventually won a thumping majority.

The big difference now is that Mr Corbyn remains a divisive figure and today’s shadow cabinet, unlike Blair’s team 20 years ago of Brown, Blunkett, Cook, Straw et al, does not look like a government-in-waiting.

During a visit last week to a café in Consett, Mr Corbyn mildly attacked the Government’s roll-out of universal credit – precisely the kind of unpopular policy that Labour has failed to fully exploit to its own advantage. The Tories are unlikely to remain this weak indefinitely.

Mr Corbyn looked relaxed as he tucked into his fry-up on Friday but he might find he’s had his chips next time the country goes to the polls.