Op-ed; Pollsters GfK claim that a new poll shows Jeremy Corbyn is as unpopular as Donald Trump in the U.K. Another polling organisation so let's look at them first. The man behind that poll is Keiran Pedley. Who the hell is he you may wonder? This blogger certainly did. There are just so many of these anti Corbyn pollsters who know that such polling grabs headlines, makes money and more. "Keiran Pedley is an Associate Director/ UK elections and polling expert at GfK NOP and presenter of the podcast ‘Polling Matters’. He tweets about politics and polling at @keiranpedley." Now the poll which is being repeated in various publications in the U.K. as a cast in stone poll worthy of note. "GfK surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,938 GB adults between March 1st and March 15th, 2017" wow so many and over such a long period of time says she with heavy sarcasm. That massive representation of the British electorate apparently shows that;
The first two points have resulted in wild headlines such as this one at SkyNews "Corbyn 'almost as unpopular as Trump' in Britain, according to poll." That post has a bad image of Corbyn too for good measure. And of course Brexit is still a big issue with some of the electorate in the UK. There is more on Pollsters GfK website with this note toward the end "Note: Figures may sum to more than 100% due to rounding.." Rounded up then and not down also for good measure definitely not for fair play. There is more waffle on the pollsters website along with;
What that fails to say is 17% of GB adults POLLED. It reads as an assessment of the electorate as a whole.
So what is the point of that poll? There could be many reasons for such a poll but none are really valid. Such polls;
Never forget that some people fill in polls for money or just for the hell of it. This blogger was a mixture of surprised and amused when she saw that Jamie Reed when he was an MP was avidly filling in YouGov polls. (See image below report) Readers of this blog are usually fairly clued up and bright as buttons but readers of other publications repeating the poll results as a news story may be more easily persuaded. We all know that perception is key. If you say something often enough it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Be under no illusions. #JC4PM Our Poll: When we launched this small independent website back in August we added a poll which is still running. We asked whether Jeremy Corbyn was electable and gave a few options. It was a little tongue in cheek but to date 78 votes have been cast. What they mean is any person's guess. How many voted honestly? How many came back and voted more than once? How many lied about their age? How many voted for a laugh or malevolently? Are all those who voted Labour Party supporters? Questions, questions yes so many questions. Yes just like mainstream media poll predictions this poll is what you want to make of it. It was created as some in the PLP were resigning at a fast and furious pace and a handful of MPS were showing themselves and the party up by sitting behind Mr Corbyn in the House of Commons chanting resign, resign, resign like a bunch of naughty bullying children, Obviously such shenanigans for all the world to see and read about caused an immense amount of damage to the Labour Party. But the majority of us have picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves down and moved on. Sadly some who should know better may still be plotting and drip feeding the right wing of the mainstream media spurious reports, anonymously of course as like all bullies they are not brave, but with new whips in place that has at least been curtailed for the most part. We must now focus on elections in particular building our credibility as a government in waiting. One cautionary note to the PLP. Having endured a horrendous summer Jeremy Corbyn supporters may not be so forgiving if a second plot is launched or ludicrous nastily timed purges of party members starts up again. Few will be happy if they canvas and campaign for the Labour Party in any way if they are let down again We are putting our trust in you now show you deserve it. The results of the poll to date follow but you can still vote if you want to here: The Poll |
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