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 |
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