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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Being an Etonian is seen much worse than having taken hard drugs. YouGov’s “Characteristics unsuitable in leading politicians”
The above polling (full details here) came out yesterday when I was attending a family occasion and have only just got round to looking at the detail.
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What makes you think that's one I hadnt done?!
Sadly the only adult mag I'm likely to get into these days is a saga catalogue.
The huge numbers of people willing to think ill of other people for things done while that person was a youth (several of the scenarios involve things done when young) is merely confirmation of the lack of compassion and empathy in society. Mature people understand that immature people sometimes do daft things, and forgive them.
The two characteristics that do slightly concern me are the following:
a) "Never had a real job". There are many reasons why Pete Wishart MP is a much better politician than Jim Murphy MP, but one of them is that Pete had a long and successful real job before he ever entered politics. It therefore did not surprise me when it was JM who told PW to "f*** off, f*** off, f*** off" like a schoolchild in the Commons, rather than the other way round. PW is a well-adjusted adult, while JM still thinks that he is on sabbatical while running the Strathclyde student union.
b) "Gay although they campaigned as happily married".This is all about personal integrity. We dislike people who are so obviously living a total lie: lying not only to us as voters but even to themselves. They do not make good politicians. (In their defence, they could of course be bisexual rather than homosexual.) It is unwise to discuss individual examples, so I'll only say two words: Cape Cod.
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_and_soft_drugs
I gave up nicotine 11 years ago, but still enjoy alcohol occasionally. Very infrequently since the youngest was born.
The gay argument is more or less true now that homosexuality is legal, but it was not the case twenty or thirty years ago when society's attitudes were much more backwards. I have little but compassion for people who had to hide their sexuality in order to pursue a certain career. This change has only really occurred in the last ten or twenty years in politics, well within many people's political careers.
A note on the Eton question: it is a two parter: "That they went to Eton and don't understand how normal people live" T
Oh, and the pulldown interactive menu doesn't work for me in Chrome, but it does in Firefox.
Durr. Needs work.
Studied PPE.
Always voted at his party's call, and never thought of thinking for himself at all.
That anyone even cares about such stuff is terrifically depressing.
Live and let live.
I had a classic exchange the other day:
Voter: The problem is that politicians never listen to us ordinary people!
Me: OK, I'm a politician, on your doorstep and listening. What would you like me to know?
Voter: Erm. Well. Nothing at the moment.
The point, of course, is that he wasn't really wanting to impart information, but expressing alienation - and that's actually harder to deal with.
YouGov shows the usual fluctuations - the surge in government approval has subsided, but so has the figure blaming the government for the cuts. Underlyiing point is that these shjifts don't actually affect voting intention - people seem quite settled in how they plan to vote (something I've noticed on the doorstep too), regardless of whether they think X was responsible for Y or Z is or isn't doing well.
Anyway, enough chat, Moscow to explore. Thanks again to Avery for tips.
Unpublished addendum :
Female Posed Nude When Young 0.1%
Female - 82%
Gay Female - 87%
Gay Female Pro EU -94%
Gay Female Burka Wearing - 94%
Gay Female Burka Wearing Pro EU - 96%
Gay Female Flood Causing, Burka Wearing Pro EU - 98%
The Mother-in-law - 99%
The BBC has an interesting and balanced article on the economics, social and environmental effects of large dams.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26512465
Voter: The problem is that politicians never listen to us ordinary people!
Me: OK, I'm a politician, on your doorstep and listening. What would you like me to know?
Voter: Erm. Well. Nothing at the moment.
The point, of course, is that he wasn't really wanting to impart information, but expressing alienation - and that's actually harder to deal with.
Not least because for an increasing number of people it's actually a rational reaction. Such voters are, after all, only behaving like monks (whether Christian or Buddhist).
The BBC in Scotland has an interesting and balanced article on the economics, social and environmental effect of large drams.
Hic .....
You appear as far from 'normal' as it is possible to get. As, to be fair, do most of us on here.
" I'm all too familiar with the economic sides of normality"
Really? How?
You are sounding too overconfident IMHO. What you see as not causing voting shift now , doesn't mean it wont come at the GE when there will be a LOT more focus on why the Coalition was good for Britain, what it has achieved and any idea of letting Labour back in would be a disaster. .
We shall seE if you are right in May 2015.
Interesting how the UKIP voters seem to come across as very balanced - having a chip on each shoulder.
Mr Sutherland says in the letter he believes the group is "ungovernable".
Mr Sutherland, who joined last May, said last month that 2013 had been "perhaps the worst year" in the Co-op's long history and it had "lost its way".
Mr Sutherland's move comes after the bank's financial problems, and the resignation of former chairman Paul Flowers for alleged drugs offences.
Mr Sutherland is thought to be "demoralised and fed-up," according to the BBC's business editor.
I am looking forward to the day when the Co-op calls in Labour's loans to pay banker bonuses.
I mentioned that a couple of weeks ago we had a new French colleague and his wife around.
During the conversation, it turned out that they had never had scotch, and I have promised to get them some before our return trip. The problem is what to get them? Scotch varies so massively that it's impossible to get a true image with just one bottle (and I'm too tight to buy several).
As I can't seem to find a selection taster pack here in Cambridge, and there isn't time to order one, can anyone suggest a 'good' malt that would be attractive and accessible to cheese-eating wine snobs? (*)
(*) I'm joking. They're the first French couple I've met who don't like cheese. They are wine snobs though, and pleasantly so.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/10688763/David-Cameron-stung-by-Angela-Merkels-broadband-jibe.html
This is a depressing finding.
Mr. Jessop, not necessarily an industry standard, but Joe Abercrombie did a few posts about whisky and what he preferred: http://www.joeabercrombie.com/category/whisky-deathmatch/
Out of interest Nick, when you were a Commie – what were you thinking? Literally – what thoughts were going through your head?
I can only assume you became a commie long AFTER the true nature of communism was out there. Like a few decades. The Stalins and Pol Pots and Ceausescus and Maos and their like were the shining citadels up on the hill of the international communist movement. Unless you were truly a monster then I’m guessing the reality of communism wasn’t what blew your skirt up.
So…erm…what was it? You harboured some ‘each according to his ability for each according to his needs’ naïve world view? There was an ideal communism that sucked you in despite it relying on human nature not being human nature to ever be even closely workable? Was it an unthinking teenage rebellion against Maggie? What?
And much more interestingly – at what point and for what reason did you become an ex-communist? You saw it for what it is at some point? (and became a common or garden spend n borrow socialist). You had an epiphany: ‘Oh look, butchering millions and denying the most fundamental human rights all in the name of the greater good while Comrade Bigcheese lords it up in his dacha suddenly seems wrong’. Was there an event, a day, that you suddenly thought ‘bugger this evil shit for a game of soldiers’?
It always bemuses me that anyone who willingly associates themselves with Nazism is (quite bloody rightly) ostracized, but that someone who openly admits to belonging to an even worse and more deadly creed is somehow to be forgiven.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/26464195
Britain and Germany are top of the title lists. However, we've got loads of reasonably successful chaps and the Germans have just two who have won loads.
Avoid the peaty varieties of malt whisky, go for the smoother slightly sweeter offerings. Glenlivet and the Macallan are widely available but if they are wine snobs see if you can get Royal Lochnagar - most pleasing and with a notable heritage.
http://www.smws.co.uk/whisky-tastings/CambridgePreviewTasting00029758.html
But it sounds as if you don't have time.
Highland Park, Glenmorangie and Old Pulteney I like - a good idea of what a single malt can be without the very strong and to some extent acquired taste of Islay malts.
Bit rich for a self-described Scotsman, whose ancestors came over from Ireland and took over the poor native Picts, to use such a term.
As an aside, the Warlord Chronicles are Cornwell's best work, and well worth reading if you haven't already.
Captain Josias Jessop - "Don't tell him Alanbrooke ...."
Herr Kaptain von JackW - "Zo .... Alanbrooke."
Both of you need to open your minds and mouths to brews from other nations. There is much to be enjoyed from foreigners - consider the Japanese, Americans and Welsh, as well as your rivals from over the water.
Testicles !!!!!!!!!!!!
The Warlord Chronicles are already on the bookshelf ... but thanks for checking! And I like Duggan too, as some of us discussed recently. And there is Keith Roberts's Boat of Fate too.
Farage and his trust fund.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ukip-leader-nigel-farage-admits-1972988
"What sort of country are we living in if a politician comes to Nottingham and speaks here to a group of people in the city centre and, during his speech, a heckler replies "bollocks". Are we to expect this person to be incarcerated, or do we live in a country where we are proud of our Anglo-Saxon language?".
1) It's very dubious. While you can find countries it works for, you can find plenty of countries it doesn't come close to working for.
2) If you treat London as the first and second city (allocating its population in the ratio 2:1), it works quite well for Britain. So perhaps that's the answer to what's the second city in Britain: London, first and second.
Is this the YouGov analysis with the leading compound question: "Being an Etonian and being out of touch".
I suspect that if you polled those separately you would get a different answer.
Naughty.
Thanks to everyone for the replies about whisky. I've rearranged my day, and I'm going to go into the perilous heart of Cambridge later to see what I can find.
As for Scotch-vs-whisky: when I was a teenager and relatively new to the world of drink, I got yelled at in a remote Scottish pub for asking for a 'Scotch'. The barman testily said; "There's only one type of whisky worth it's name, and calling it 'Scotch' makes it sounds as if ye think there's anything else. Ask for whisky, laddie, and ye'll get the best."
The accent might have been added by my memory ... ;-)
Better news on the drugs front though.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2577814/The-eminent-doctor-convinced-ad-hd-doesnt-exist-In-fact-says-Dr-RICHARD-SAUL-symptoms-routine-causes-drugs-harm-good.html
My local tesco were knocking out Jura Diurachs' Own 16 Year Old Malt for 22 quid a bottle last week. I cleared the shelf of the last 3!
Mr January - Mike Smithson with strategically placed "Winning Here" placard
Mrs February - Fitalass and some pussy
Mr March - JohnO and carefully place Bournmouth rail ticket
Mr April - MikeK chained to a cooker - knobs covering his .... er .... switches.
Mr May - Nick Palmer - A ballot paper saving his deposit
Mr June - SeanT - Reposing over his first edition
Mr July - Andrea - First among equals
Mr August - Neil - Green with envy in a fig leaf
Mr September - Stuart Dickson - A vegetable among men - Some Swede.
Mr October - Morris Dancer - Wiffle sticks can't hide the truth
Mr November - JackW - His erection to the peerage well supported.
Mr December - Peter the Punter - wagering there's more to him than meets your eyes.
Ministers won't change it, though:
Cabinet Office minister Greg Clark said he recognised the problem of fraud but did not think postal voting on demand should be scrapped.
"Postal voting has proved very important in making sure that people can access the franchise. "
Prolate spheroids, as Mr. Palmer might say. 99% of people can vote perfectly easily with pen and paper on the day. They even get a nice relaxing walk first. Higher turnout at the cost of the result's integrity is worthless.
- minimising tax (I don't care if it is legal, it's immoral and that counts far more)
- Getting into politics through family connections
I think it is a shame prejudice has pushed >50% of Lib/Lab/UKIP (see what I did there!) to say that attending Eton makes you unsuitable to be a politician - although with reference to the current crop of former Etonian Tories I can understand it.
The academic study, which analysed the views of more than 100,000 voters, says support for Ukip is driven not just by Euroscepticism, but also by ‘hostility’ to immigration and ‘intense dissatisfaction’ with the three main parties.
It suggests that almost one-third of voters share at least two of these values and might be persuaded to vote for the party in future if it can succeed in getting its message across.
The study also finds that Ukip’s potential support has increased since the start of the financial crisis, with public dissatisfaction growing about the way the main parties have handled immigration.
The report’s co-author Dr Robert Ford, of the University of Manchester, said: ‘UKIP are currently winning over one voter in ten but their potential far exceeds their current support in the polls by a margin of three to one.
This revolt has been a long time coming, but may have a long way to run.’ The new study also suggests that Ukip’s supporters have been ‘deeply misunderstood’, with the party now attracting growing support from working class voters.
The findings are drawn from a new book on the party by Dr Ford and Matthew Goodwin, of the University of Nottingham.
Dr Goodwin said: ‘Ukip are winning over the “Left Behind” groups in British society - old, working class, men, with very few educational qualifications.
These are voters who hold a very different set of values to the professional, middle-class majority - they are far more nationalist, Eurosceptic, fiercely opposed to immigration and feel like they have no voice in politics. They look out at a country their neither recognise nor want to be a part of......
But the study warns that the party faces a series of major challenges, including a demographic timebomb resulting from the fact it has ‘little appeal to university graduates, the young or ethnic minorities’.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2577971/UKIP-hit-30-message-Analysis-100-000-voters-views-says-support-party-not-just-driven-Eurosceptism.html#ixzz2vdzzcmLL
I do think there are measures which are reasonable, and those which are legal but taking the piss (like Jimmy Carr).
Get off your hobby horse and drink your milk.
You might not but people lead ferociously busy lives. Voting should be easy, not an obstacle course.
Do you have any evidence that postal voting is any more prone to fraud than any other?
Were not the Normans, the North Men? Am not sure if this includes Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Danes?
I know that my family come over with/just after William the Conqueror and our name is still purish Anglo-Saxon. (we are named in the old rolls of Canterbury Cathedral)
Ferociously busy lives don't excuse compromising the integrity of the vote for convenience. As for evidence postal voting is so bad it would (and I quote a judge 'disgrace a banana republic'.
Mr. Financier, that's certainly where they came from but at a certain point peoples change, just as the Anglo-Saxons became the English.
Not enough ladies. Perhaps you could persuade Plato to return - cuddling her pussies.
There is, I understand, debate about whence the Thai word came.
The others parties' supporters are in general agreement with each other on these.
As I recall, a number of Saxons left England after the Conquest and took service in the Imperial Guard at Byzantium.
We'll never think of LibDem lost deposits in the same way ever again !!
@Raceclear have their ratings up - they are a profitable entity (If you can get the prices)
I've done the following for the Supreme Novices - combined 3 bookie's offers.
All prices are Best odds Guaranteed.
£20 for Irving with Paddy Power (2/1, but will get longer Start Price)- Stake back if 2nd,3rd or 4th
£3 E/W "Un Ace" Will Hills @ 33-1 Places paid 1,2,3,4,5
£6 E/W "Josses Hill" Will Hills @ 14-1 Places paid 1,2,3,4,5
£10 Betfair Sportsbook Double - Bet refunded (As free bet) if loser for Vatour @ 4-1 and Quevega 8-11 Mares Hurdle.
1.30 Supreme Novices' Hurdle
1. Irving
2. Vautour
3. Josses Hill/Un Ace
Of course London as we conceive of it today is multiple cities.
The City of London and the City of Westminster being the most obvious, plus multiple hamlets to the north (e.g. Hampstead) and west (e.g. Kensington)
Lab 4/9
Con 7/4
UKIP 33/1
Grn 100/1
LD 100/1
RIPAMTLPSUT