Some absolutely awful leadership polling for the opposition

October 2, 2012 11:15 am

Author:

Tags:

Share this Article

The sitting Prime Minister enjoys a substantial lead (50-31) over the opposition leader when the electorate are asked who the best PM would be.

Not now of course – this is from a week before the 1979 general election when Margaret Thatcher was trailing Callaghan by nearly twenty points in the leadership ratings. Surely this news destroyed her campaign? Showed she couldn’t win?

Whatever happened to Margaret Thatcher eh…?

(h/t @progpoll)

20121002-111425.jpg

  • AlanGiles

    According to the ComRes poll in todays Independent Labours lead is now 3%, down from 7%.

    I am sorry to say it again, but until Cruddas has decided what Labour should do, it looks indecisive and frankly rather pointless – just a question of re-arranging the dust. EM will not do himself any favours going on about his Comprehensive school, and “posh boys” and all that nonsense.

    • kb32904

      The ComRes poll was taken by telephone at the weekend & all telephone weekend polls seem to kick up anomalies.

      What interested me is that the media ignored the comment on ComRes site that says that their poll would still return a Labour majority of 24 seats.

      YouGov show a Labour lead of 9 this morning so it’s business as usual.

    • kb32904

      The ComRes poll was taken by telephone at the weekend & all telephone weekend polls seem to kick up anomalies.

      What interested me is that the media ignored the comment on ComRes site that says that their poll would still return a Labour majority of 24 seats.

      YouGov show a Labour lead of 9 this morning so it’s business as usual.

    • http://www.facebook.com/ian.robathan.5 Ian Robathan

       Do you just ignore all the other polls then ?

      Comres is totally out of line

  • http://twitter.com/Ceilidhann Kayleigh Anne

    I’m always highly entertained by polls and the reactions they elicit. Everyone dismisses them when they don’t fit their preconceived narrative, then jumps all over them when they see what they want to see. Polls are notoriously easy to screw around with and certainly shouldn’t be taken as gospel. It’s like PMQs in that aspect – one bad week or one bad poll does not equal instant ruin. Got to go with a classic Simpsons moment here.

    “Aw, you can’t come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forty percent of all people know that.”

  • http://twitter.com/Ceilidhann Kayleigh Anne

    I’m always highly entertained by polls and the reactions they elicit. Everyone dismisses them when they don’t fit their preconceived narrative, then jumps all over them when they see what they want to see. Polls are notoriously easy to screw around with and certainly shouldn’t be taken as gospel. It’s like PMQs in that aspect – one bad week or one bad poll does not equal instant ruin. Got to go with a classic Simpsons moment here.

    “Aw, you can’t come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forty percent of all people know that.”

    • Winston_from_the_Ministry

      It’s called confirmational bias. 

  • Pingback: Citizen Ed vs that Coalition shower » 21stCenturyFix.org.uk

Latest

  • Comment Unions The chutzpah of Peter Mandelson – and why we need more trade unionists

    The chutzpah of Peter Mandelson – and why we need more trade unionists

    Lord Mandelson, or Baron Mandelson of Foy, as he should be referred to since he was packed off to the House of Lords by a small cabal, recently accused the Unite union of ‘manipulating selection procedures’ in the Labour Party. He went on to warn Ed Miliband that this ‘stores up danger for a future Labour government’. Irony has always been in as short supply as sheer chutzpah has been plentiful with old Mandy – but since his faithful disciple [...]

    Read more →
  • News Cameron says no more EU-turns – Media roundup: May 22nd, 2013

    Cameron says no more EU-turns – Media roundup: May 22nd, 2013

    Subscribers to our morning email get the best of LabourList – including the Media and blog round up – every weekday morning. If you were a subscriber you would have already received this in your inbox. You can sign up here. Cameron says no more EU-turns “After one of his most difficult weeks since becoming prime minister, David Cameron put in a polished and assured peformance on the Today programme this morning. The most notable line came on Europe, with Cameron [...]

    Read more →
  • Featured Miliband is off to speak to Google – but it’s not all about tax avoidance

    Miliband is off to speak to Google – but it’s not all about tax avoidance

    Ed Miliband is speaking at the Google “Big Tent” event this morning, and as we noted earlier this week, he’s picking a bit of a fight with them over their tax affairs. Understandably, most of the press coverage in advance of Miliband’s speech (and presumably afterwards too) is about Google’s tax affairs. That’s in part due to David Cameron’s unwillingness to challenge his adviser, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, when the two met earlier this week. The Downing Street media team [...]

    Read more →
  • News Labour MPs and Equal Marriage – analysis, and some special mentions

    Labour MPs and Equal Marriage – analysis, and some special mentions

    It was good to see the vast majority of Labour MPs voting for marriage equality yesterday, although here are some special mentions – Iain McKenzie, Frank Roy & Mike Wood - voted FOR after voting against in the 2nd reading Anne Begg, Gordon Brown, Bill Esterson, Pat Glass, Michael Meacher, Ian Mearns, Yasmin Qureshi, Virenda Sharma, Shaun Woodward - these MPs didn’t vote in the 2nd reading, but all voted FOR this evening (not all abstentions, a number were unable to attend [...]

    Read more →
  • News More evidence of that slick Downing Street media operation…

    More evidence of that slick Downing Street media operation…

    Ed Miliband is addressing Google’s Big Tent, and is expected to attack them over tax avoidance. So the slick Downing Street operation presumably want to get out ahead of that, right? Not quite. Here’s a selection of the headlines from Tuesday’s papers: ‘Stop moralising about tax avoidance, PM told’ – Guardian p.23 ‘Tougher tax rules would cost jobs, minister warns’ – Financial Times p.3 ‘Cameron avoids showdown over Google tax row’ – Times p.15 ‘No taxing questions as PM lets [...]

    Read more →