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Survation has the party that dropped 20% in C&A with a 6% lead in Batley & Spen – politicalbetting.c

SystemSystem Posts: 12,158
edited June 2021 in General
imageSurvation has the party that dropped 20% in C&A with a 6% lead in Batley & Spen – politicalbetting.com

In a poll with the fieldwork taking place before the C&A by-election news Survation has the Tories set to offset their disaster there with a gain in Batley and Spen.

Read the full story here

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Comments

  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,960
    The super spreading event is still going on in London....
  • swing_voterswing_voter Posts: 1,464
    Second like the Conservatives.....it'll be tight though. My feelign is CCHQ will have been fighting on two fronts C&A and B&S and so will lose both.
  • The super spreading event is still going on in London....

    Good on the Scots. It's time to get out and live and I'm glad they are enjoying themselves. Unlike the English football team.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,009
    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30
  • Cocky_cockneyCocky_cockney Posts: 760
    edited June 2021
    In some ways a Cons victory in B&S may not be the worst thing. A case of losing the battle to win the war. Why so? Because the meme is now set: the tories only care about the red wall. This is going down like a lead balloon in the south. Today's newspapers, across the spectrum, are full of it and the Co-Chair of the tory party + up to 100 tory MP's are saying the same thing.

    That message, that the tories only care about the red wall, could lose them the next election.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,846

    Second like the Conservatives.....it'll be tight though. My feelign is CCHQ will have been fighting on two fronts C&A and B&S and so will lose both.

    Why "and so"?
  • Second like the Conservatives.....it'll be tight though. My feelign is CCHQ will have been fighting on two fronts C&A and B&S and so will lose both.

    Why "and so"?
    Presumably because they're incompatible. You can't stoke up this red wall vote at the same time as appeal to your southern base. The values and policies are diametrically opposed.

    It's very Janus Johnson though.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,009

    Second like the Conservatives.....it'll be tight though. My feelign is CCHQ will have been fighting on two fronts C&A and B&S and so will lose both.

    Why "and so"?
    Presumably because they're incompatible. You can't stoke up this red wall vote at the same time as appeal to your southern base. The values and policies are diametrically opposed.

    It's very Janus Johnson though.
    And labour are falling down the middle and are in a far worse place than the conservatives who could lose some similar seats to Chesham and Amersham but they are far from losing generally in the south
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,846
    Oddly, there is a difference of opinion between bookmakers (pro-Labour) and Betfair (pro-Conservative).

    Batley & Spen (12 days to go)
    Conservative 1.27 on Betfair but 4/11 with Hills and 3/10 with Paddy Power
    Labour 4.2
    Workers Party of George Galloway 90
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164
    How very odd to omit the use of the word 'Conservative' from the title of the thread header? Apparently they have become 'the party that lost 20%..' I cannot puzzle that one out. Not noted yesterday, for obvious reasons were some good local results for the Tories in the SW and Scotland.
    For me the in B & S Survation poll is a big surprise - I expected it to be way closer and maybe in 2 weeks, it will be. Either way the fact that so much of the news is focusing on Keir Starmer's troubles should be very worrying for Labour and a huge relief for the Tories.
    In C & A a huge LD success and a poor result for the government. I think the T. Villiers analysis on this may be correct but if so it should be resisted. The country needs more homes in many places and the NIMBY tendency,while understandable, is not going to help any government, now or for the future.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    While I am not Johnson's greatest fan as leader or PM he clearly has achieved a degree of popularity among lower income voters in the north and elsewhere which is really quite extraordinary. Indeed in the main he seems to do better the more strident is the criticism he receives on social and a fair bit of the national media. Could it be that they don't really understand the folk they are endlessly preaching to? :smiley:
  • There's some good analysis of the result in today's Telegraph, which is offering a 3 months for £1 subscription deal at the moment. Set it up as a Direct Debit and it's easy to cancel if you don't wish to continue.

    Here's a pretty scathing summary:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/06/18/get-back-traditional-tory-values-cabinet-warns-boris-johnson/

    And as they say, 'the scale of this defeat should not be underestimated.'

    And here's an analysis of other Blue Wall seats now in danger:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/06/18/signs-tories-defeat-chesham-amersham-visible-local-elections/
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/06/18/chesham-amersham-loss-shows-boris-johnson-may-starting-pay-price/


    The point being made by some is that this wasn't a one-off. It's a swallow that heralds summer. And you could clearly see the signs in last month's local election results. The tories lost 34 council seats in the South-east.

    As Allister Heath puts it in the Telegraph, 'What is the point of voting Tory if you are a prosperous shire-dwelling Southern voter?'
  • Specific seats being targeted by the LibDems:

    Wimbledon
    Carshalton and Wallington
    Winchester
    Esher and Walton
    Guildford
    Eastbourne
    Wokingham
    Surrey South West
    Cheltenham
    Lewes

    And if this meme really takes off, which I think it will, there are a raft of other seats that could be under threat.

    Where does this leave Labour? I don't know to be honest.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,009
    felix said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    While I am not Johnson's greatest fan as leader or PM he clearly has achieved a degree of popularity among lower income voters in the north and elsewhere which is really quite extraordinary. Indeed in the main he seems to do better the more strident is the criticism he receives on social and a fair bit of the national media. Could it be that they don't really understand the folk they are endlessly preaching to? :smiley:
    I am not a fan of Boris and would prefer Rishi or Hunt but this poll is devastating for Starmer
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,009

    Specific seats being targeted by the LibDems:

    Wimbledon
    Carshalton and Wallington
    Winchester
    Esher and Walton
    Guildford
    Eastbourne
    Wokingham
    Surrey South West
    Cheltenham
    Lewes

    And if this meme really takes off, which I think it will, there are a raft of other seats that could be under threat.

    Where does this leave Labour? I don't know to be honest.

    Lost
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,110
    felix said:

    How very odd to omit the use of the word 'Conservative' from the title of the thread header? Apparently they have become 'the party that lost 20%..' I cannot puzzle that one out. Not noted yesterday, for obvious reasons were some good local results for the Tories in the SW and Scotland.
    For me the in B & S Survation poll is a big surprise - I expected it to be way closer and maybe in 2 weeks, it will be. Either way the fact that so much of the news is focusing on Keir Starmer's troubles should be very worrying for Labour and a huge relief for the Tories.
    In C & A a huge LD success and a poor result for the government. I think the T. Villiers analysis on this may be correct but if so it should be resisted. The country needs more homes in many places and the NIMBY tendency,while understandable, is not going to help any government, now or for the future.

    There's a conflict between system optima (more homes) and local optima (no additional stress on local services).

    But here's the thing: there are areas of the UK with more than adequate numbers of homes. Those areas, though, don't have jobs or opportunities. While the UK population has increased markedly in the last 30 years, the populations of Salford and Sunderland have declined. Some places, like Bolton, have seen their populations drop by a quarter in the last century.

    A successful government would bring the North up, so that the South didn't need to build too many new homes. Win, win.

  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652
    edited June 2021
    The tables are well worth a look for this poll. They tell a very interesting story:
    1. There are a lot of undecideds - especially in Batley.
    2. Labour is getting more of the 2019 Tory vote than the Tories are getting of the 2019 Labour vote.
    3. Labour leads among 18-54s, the Tories are well ahead with the 54+ cohort.
    4. The 2019 local party pro-Brexit vote is swinging behind the Tories.
    5. The Galloway vote is almost all 2019 Labour.
    Given the undecideds, there is probably still all to play for. What vote Galloway gets is very likely to decide the outcome.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,009
    edited June 2021

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
  • Meanwhile The Times says that 23 southern seats are at risk of falling to the LibDems:

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/df05733a-d064-11eb-9bfa-a3bc386e6928

    They include Witney, where you may recall the council fell last month

    And 7 of the seats include Cabinet Ministers. Stop and think about that for a moment because one of those may turn out to be Brutus.
  • Any tory who turns around after this result and says, 'ah but it's far worse for Labour' is living a delusion.

    This is a catastrophic result for Johnson's Conservatives. We passed peak Boris on May 25th and I would not now bet on him winning the next General Election.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header

    There's no reason to doubt the legitimacy of the poll. It's well worth looking at the tables Survation supplies. The Tories are where you would expect them to be given the local pro-Brexit 2019 parties are not standing.

  • “I was going door-to-door at the start of the campaign and everything seemed normal. Then the Lib Dems absolutely carpet bombed the seat with opposition to planning and HS2 leaflets with quotes from Theresa May on them.”

    Good old Theresa!
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146

    Specific seats being targeted by the LibDems:

    Wimbledon
    Carshalton and Wallington
    Winchester
    Esher and Walton
    Guildford
    Eastbourne
    Wokingham
    Surrey South West
    Cheltenham
    Lewes

    And if this meme really takes off, which I think it will, there are a raft of other seats that could be under threat.

    Where does this leave Labour? I don't know to be honest.

    It leaves Scottish Labour grinning like a Cheshire cat.

    This is fantastic news for progressive opponents of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The more their English bosses chase votes in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire et al the easier it is to continue peeling away centre-left SLD voters.

    Without tactical voting the SLDs would be extinct.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146

    Second like the Conservatives.....it'll be tight though. My feelign is CCHQ will have been fighting on two fronts C&A and B&S and so will lose both.

    Why "and so"?
    Presumably because they're incompatible. You can't stoke up this red wall vote at the same time as appeal to your southern base. The values and policies are diametrically opposed.

    It's very Janus Johnson though.
    A typo slipped in there.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,009

    Any tory who turns around after this result and says, 'ah but it's far worse for Labour' is living a delusion.

    This is a catastrophic result for Johnson's Conservatives. We passed peak Boris on May 25th and I would not now bet on him winning the next General Election.

    There is no delusion in labour being unattractive to neither the red wall or the south and not to forget Scotland
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,846

    Any tory who turns around after this result and says, 'ah but it's far worse for Labour' is living a delusion.

    This is a catastrophic result for Johnson's Conservatives. We passed peak Boris on May 25th and I would not now bet on him winning the next General Election.

    My view is Boris will not stand at the next election, and especially not if there is any danger of defeat. If he loses, he will not be Prime Minister, with all the perks that entails, and he will have devalued his brand as the man who always wins: the Mayoralty twice; the party leadership election; the general election. (And in Boris's mind, the winning sequence probably goes further back to Oxford and before that, to Eton.)
  • Second like the Conservatives.....it'll be tight though. My feelign is CCHQ will have been fighting on two fronts C&A and B&S and so will lose both.

    Why "and so"?
    Presumably because they're incompatible. You can't stoke up this red wall vote at the same time as appeal to your southern base. The values and policies are diametrically opposed.

    It's very Janus Johnson though.
    A typo slipped in there.
    No it was very deliberate!
  • Any tory who turns around after this result and says, 'ah but it's far worse for Labour' is living a delusion.

    This is a catastrophic result for Johnson's Conservatives. We passed peak Boris on May 25th and I would not now bet on him winning the next General Election.

    There is no delusion in labour being unattractive to neither the red wall or the south and not to forget Scotland
    It's very deluded to go from a crushing tory defeat into a jabbering attack at the main opposition along the lines of, 'they're doing far worse than we are.'

    Put your own house in order.

    On the topic of Labour, however ...
  • It's far too early to write them off. They may well struggle for a time in the red wall, which is why I don't necessarily expect them to win B&S.

    However, Starmer is not Corbyn and the latter was poison for many voters both personally and politically. Labour seem to be polling around 34% at the moment and as Johnson slides, and as he fails to deliver all his bribes promises to the electorate up north (because it's simply impossible) they will not all be voting blue next time around. Throw into the mix the unique pandemic situation and a bank of other clouds now appearing on the horizon, and I don't think it's quite the time to be writing off Labour.

  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,009

    Any tory who turns around after this result and says, 'ah but it's far worse for Labour' is living a delusion.

    This is a catastrophic result for Johnson's Conservatives. We passed peak Boris on May 25th and I would not now bet on him winning the next General Election.

    There is no delusion in labour being unattractive to neither the red wall or the south and not to forget Scotland
    It's very deluded to go from a crushing tory defeat into a jabbering attack at the main opposition along the lines of, 'they're doing far worse than we are.'

    Put your own house in order.

    On the topic of Labour, however ...
    I am not the least bit concerned and actually quite content for the party to have a warning shot fired across their bows

    You do know this type of result is not uncommon in by elections and in this case there were many local factors
  • MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,704
    edited June 2021

    As Allister Heath puts it in the Telegraph, 'What is the point of voting Tory if you are a prosperous shire-dwelling Southern voter?'

    Well the answer to that question is blindingly obvious.

    If you vote LD and this results in a Hung Parliament then the LDs will go with Labour and anyone remotely prosperous will be paying much, much, much higher taxes.

    Which is why those people will not risk it in a GE when it really matters.
  • MikeL said:

    As Allister Heath puts it in the Telegraph, 'What is the point of voting Tory if you are a prosperous shire-dwelling Southern voter?'

    Well the answer to that question is blindingly obvious.

    If you vote LD and this results in a Hung Parliament then the LDs will go with Labour and anyone remotely prosperous will be paying much, much, much higher taxes.

    Erm. This Government is far to the left of Neil Kinnock. You'll be paying far higher taxes under Johnson.

    All of this bribing spending has to come from somewhere, you know.

    Read today's newspapers, including right-leaners, if you think this is just my take. It isn't.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146

    Meanwhile The Times says that 23 southern seats are at risk of falling to the LibDems:

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/df05733a-d064-11eb-9bfa-a3bc386e6928

    They include Witney, where you may recall the council fell last month

    And 7 of the seats include Cabinet Ministers. Stop and think about that for a moment because one of those may turn out to be Brutus.

    Slim Julius was an easy stab. Good luck to the modern Brutus and his chums carving through the blubber.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,846
    felix said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    While I am not Johnson's greatest fan as leader or PM he clearly has achieved a degree of popularity among lower income voters in the north and elsewhere which is really quite extraordinary. Indeed in the main he seems to do better the more strident is the criticism he receives on social and a fair bit of the national media. Could it be that they don't really understand the folk they are endlessly preaching to? :smiley:
    I'm not sure it is quite that, but there do seem to be (at least) three components to blue strength in the wall formerly known as red.

    Boris is charismatic. He learned, or at least honed his craft on television. We think we know him in the same way we presume to know anyone off the telly. He is like Presidents Trump and Reagan in this respect, or Arnie as Governor of California. Take away the mass media and Boris has made an awful lot of speeches, like Ken Livingstone and Jeremy Corbyn, but unlike most recent politicians. He has the easy charm of Tony Blair.

    This is anecdotal, and from the South rather than the North, but I have overheard people turning away any criticism of Boris, with something along the lines of, "you're only complaining about that because it is Boris". We sometimes read on this very PB that such and such criticism can be dismissed because the person making it is suffering from Boris derangement syndrome.

    There is also the sense that Boris is "on our side". Or at least, that Labour is not "on our side". This is partly about the culture war CCHQ is fighting but also that Boris won the fight for Brexit and now is leading the fight against the pandemic, and no doubt partly because Keir Starmer's Labour does not seem to stand for anything at all.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,859
    Former Conservative MP for South West Hertfordshire David Gauke, expelled from the party by Johnson over Brexit, said: “There is a realignment going on in British politics and that has favoured the Conservatives: it gave them a big majority the last time around because the first stage of this was the fall of the red wall.

    “But there are a group of seats – up to 30 or 40 – where the Conservative vote is not Johnsonian, considers the government to be pretty populist, not focused on the interests of taxpayers, not sufficiently pro-business, and that vote is soft. And it’s vulnerable.”

    Highlighting Tory losses in his local area at recent local elections in “very prosperous, middle-class commuter areas”, such as Hitchin, Harpenden and Bishops Stortford, he added, “the current trajectory of the Conservative party is not particularly sympathetic to those areas, and the local residents are not particularly sympathetic to what the Conservative party has become”.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,859
    edited June 2021
    From the Spectator, just this Monday. Finger on the pulse as usual: Instead, the Lib Dems will lose on Thursday, most likely fairly badly, and they will have no one to blame but themselves. If they want to get back to being the by-election masters of old, they will have to do a lot better than this.
  • Cocky_cockneyCocky_cockney Posts: 760
    edited June 2021

    Any tory who turns around after this result and says, 'ah but it's far worse for Labour' is living a delusion.

    This is a catastrophic result for Johnson's Conservatives. We passed peak Boris on May 25th and I would not now bet on him winning the next General Election.

    There is no delusion in labour being unattractive to neither the red wall or the south and not to forget Scotland
    It's very deluded to go from a crushing tory defeat into a jabbering attack at the main opposition along the lines of, 'they're doing far worse than we are.'

    Put your own house in order.

    On the topic of Labour, however ...
    I am not the least bit concerned and actually quite content for the party to have a warning shot fired across their bows

    You do know this type of result is not uncommon in by elections and in this case there were many local factors
    Again, well worth your while buying a copy of today's Times and Telegraph and digging into the analysis.

    The knee-jerk 'local factor' line of yesterday morning has now yielded to something much more analytical amongst all but the most diehard Boris fans. The fact is that the signs of this were seen at last month's locals. The tories lost 34 seats in the South-east.

    With the exception of HS2, which affects several southern constituencies, those 'local factors' are in fact the whole of southern Britain. Planning in particular has caused ructions in tory circles. Remain areas are also now starting to witness the problems emerging with Brexit. And the anti-woke agenda which is designed to shore up the Alf Garnet types in the north: the 54+ year olds mentioned earlier, is pissing off the many socially liberal people in cities like London and Bristol.

    Janus Johnson is about to get his comeuppance. Sacrificing all your principles, or should I say - failing to have any principles - is de rigueur in politics. But one day it comes back to bite you in the ass.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,846
    MikeL said:

    As Allister Heath puts it in the Telegraph, 'What is the point of voting Tory if you are a prosperous shire-dwelling Southern voter?'

    Well the answer to that question is blindingly obvious.

    If you vote LD and this results in a Hung Parliament then the LDs will go with Labour and anyone remotely prosperous will be paying much, much, much higher taxes.

    Which is why those people will not risk it in a GE when it really matters.
    Yes, we all remember 2010 when the LibDems went into coalition with Labour and so Gordon Brown was Prime Minister until... oh wait, no, that never happened. The LibDems signed up with the Conservatives. And don't forget yesterday's thread.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    MikeL said:

    As Allister Heath puts it in the Telegraph, 'What is the point of voting Tory if you are a prosperous shire-dwelling Southern voter?'

    Well the answer to that question is blindingly obvious.

    If you vote LD and this results in a Hung Parliament then the LDs will go with Labour and anyone remotely prosperous will be paying much, much, much higher taxes.

    Which is why those people will not risk it in a GE when it really matters.
    One more ‘much’ and your sentence would have been even more persuasive.

    But thank you for your post: it reminded me why I despise the Tory mindset.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652

    felix said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    While I am not Johnson's greatest fan as leader or PM he clearly has achieved a degree of popularity among lower income voters in the north and elsewhere which is really quite extraordinary. Indeed in the main he seems to do better the more strident is the criticism he receives on social and a fair bit of the national media. Could it be that they don't really understand the folk they are endlessly preaching to? :smiley:
    I'm not sure it is quite that, but there do seem to be (at least) three components to blue strength in the wall formerly known as red.

    Boris is charismatic. He learned, or at least honed his craft on television. We think we know him in the same way we presume to know anyone off the telly. He is like Presidents Trump and Reagan in this respect, or Arnie as Governor of California. Take away the mass media and Boris has made an awful lot of speeches, like Ken Livingstone and Jeremy Corbyn, but unlike most recent politicians. He has the easy charm of Tony Blair.

    This is anecdotal, and from the South rather than the North, but I have overheard people turning away any criticism of Boris, with something along the lines of, "you're only complaining about that because it is Boris". We sometimes read on this very PB that such and such criticism can be dismissed because the person making it is suffering from Boris derangement syndrome.

    There is also the sense that Boris is "on our side". Or at least, that Labour is not "on our side". This is partly about the culture war CCHQ is fighting but also that Boris won the fight for Brexit and now is leading the fight against the pandemic, and no doubt partly because Keir Starmer's Labour does not seem to stand for anything at all.

    The Tories are doing spectacularly well among older voters, which cancels out - and then some - the smaller lead that Labour has among voters of working age. The Batley and Spen poll is no different to most others in that regard.

  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,722

    There's some good analysis of the result in today's Telegraph, which is offering a 3 months for £1 subscription deal at the moment. Set it up as a Direct Debit and it's easy to cancel if you don't wish to continue.

    Here's a pretty scathing summary:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/06/18/get-back-traditional-tory-values-cabinet-warns-boris-johnson/

    And as they say, 'the scale of this defeat should not be underestimated.'

    And here's an analysis of other Blue Wall seats now in danger:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/06/18/signs-tories-defeat-chesham-amersham-visible-local-elections/
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/06/18/chesham-amersham-loss-shows-boris-johnson-may-starting-pay-price/


    The point being made by some is that this wasn't a one-off. It's a swallow that heralds summer. And you could clearly see the signs in last month's local election results. The tories lost 34 council seats in the South-east.

    As Allister Heath puts it in the Telegraph, 'What is the point of voting Tory if you are a prosperous shire-dwelling Southern voter?'

    I wouldn't give the Barclay Brothers a cent of my money even £1.

    Mr Heaths question is ridiculous. You vote Tory to keep Labour out, simples.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 19,883

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    I don't think Starmer's numbers have much relevance. No one has seen him for the last year. He's agreed with everything Johnson has done so it's little wonder he hasn't carved out his own space. As soon as Covid stops dominating politics we'll start to see what Starmer's made of. Most important for the opposition is the destruction of Johnson as a competent honest and credible leader and that looks like it's happening at an accelerating pace
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,110

    Specific seats being targeted by the LibDems:

    Wimbledon
    Carshalton and Wallington
    Winchester
    Esher and Walton
    Guildford
    Eastbourne
    Wokingham
    Surrey South West
    Cheltenham
    Lewes

    And if this meme really takes off, which I think it will, there are a raft of other seats that could be under threat.

    Where does this leave Labour? I don't know to be honest.

    It leaves Scottish Labour grinning like a Cheshire cat.

    This is fantastic news for progressive opponents of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The more their English bosses chase votes in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire et al the easier it is to continue peeling away centre-left SLD voters.

    Without tactical voting the SLDs would be extinct.
    Given the LibDems are benefiting from unionist tactical voting, it's unclear that their specific policy platform has any impact on their Scottish electoral success (or otherwise).
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    IanB2 said:

    From the Spectator, just this Monday. Finger on the pulse as usual: Instead, the Lib Dems will lose on Thursday, most likely fairly badly, and they will have no one to blame but themselves. If they want to get back to being the by-election masters of old, they will have to do a lot better than this.

    The core weakness of The Spectator is that they believe own propaganda.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,615

    felix said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    While I am not Johnson's greatest fan as leader or PM he clearly has achieved a degree of popularity among lower income voters in the north and elsewhere which is really quite extraordinary. Indeed in the main he seems to do better the more strident is the criticism he receives on social and a fair bit of the national media. Could it be that they don't really understand the folk they are endlessly preaching to? :smiley:
    I am not a fan of Boris and would prefer Rishi or Hunt but this poll is devastating for Starmer
    Interesting to see only 40% think Johnson best for the North, much less than other measures. Its as if people can smell the bullshit.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,722
    Roger said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    I don't think Starmer's numbers have much relevance. No one has seen him for the last year. He's agreed with everything Johnson has done so it's little wonder he hasn't carved out his own space. As soon as Covid stops dominating politics we'll start to see what Starmer's made of. Most important for the opposition is the destruction of Johnson as a competent honest and credible leader and that looks like it's happening at an accelerating pace
    So that's Boris nailed on for another 5 yrs.... Rogerdamus speaks !
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164
    rcs1000 said:

    felix said:

    How very odd to omit the use of the word 'Conservative' from the title of the thread header? Apparently they have become 'the party that lost 20%..' I cannot puzzle that one out. Not noted yesterday, for obvious reasons were some good local results for the Tories in the SW and Scotland.
    For me the in B & S Survation poll is a big surprise - I expected it to be way closer and maybe in 2 weeks, it will be. Either way the fact that so much of the news is focusing on Keir Starmer's troubles should be very worrying for Labour and a huge relief for the Tories.
    In C & A a huge LD success and a poor result for the government. I think the T. Villiers analysis on this may be correct but if so it should be resisted. The country needs more homes in many places and the NIMBY tendency,while understandable, is not going to help any government, now or for the future.

    There's a conflict between system optima (more homes) and local optima (no additional stress on local services).

    But here's the thing: there are areas of the UK with more than adequate numbers of homes. Those areas, though, don't have jobs or opportunities. While the UK population has increased markedly in the last 30 years, the populations of Salford and Sunderland have declined. Some places, like Bolton, have seen their populations drop by a quarter in the last century.

    A successful government would bring the North up, so that the South didn't need to build too many new homes. Win, win.

    Agreed - and the most recent evidence suggests that when they do this or even give that impression the seats go blue - in some cases a very deep blue! As I'm from Sunderland I think perhaps for the first time in 50 years or more at least 2 of the 3 seats may do so. Despite some of the headier commnets on here this morning I'm unconvinced by C & A that the blue wall is in the same danger either from the reds or the yellows. I do agree that Boris dropped the ball in C & A - he has never been my preferred PM/Leader but his electoral success is generally pretty good.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,615
    MikeL said:

    As Allister Heath puts it in the Telegraph, 'What is the point of voting Tory if you are a prosperous shire-dwelling Southern voter?'

    Well the answer to that question is blindingly obvious.

    If you vote LD and this results in a Hung Parliament then the LDs will go with Labour and anyone remotely prosperous will be paying much, much, much higher taxes.

    Which is why those people will not risk it in a GE when it really matters.
    If you want to see fiscal prudence then you won't vote Tory. They are the party of big spending regional redistribution, away from the SE and London.

    Levelling up in the North means levelling down in the South.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,414
    Good morning everyone. At least the rain's stopped, for the moment, anyway.

    PMQ's next Wednesday could be interesting!
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,615

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    rcs1000 said:

    Specific seats being targeted by the LibDems:

    Wimbledon
    Carshalton and Wallington
    Winchester
    Esher and Walton
    Guildford
    Eastbourne
    Wokingham
    Surrey South West
    Cheltenham
    Lewes

    And if this meme really takes off, which I think it will, there are a raft of other seats that could be under threat.

    Where does this leave Labour? I don't know to be honest.

    It leaves Scottish Labour grinning like a Cheshire cat.

    This is fantastic news for progressive opponents of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The more their English bosses chase votes in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire et al the easier it is to continue peeling away centre-left SLD voters.

    Without tactical voting the SLDs would be extinct.
    Given the LibDems are benefiting from unionist tactical voting, it's unclear that their specific policy platform has any impact on their Scottish electoral success (or otherwise).
    Tactical voting is, by its very nature, short-term. Eventually all declining parties, irrespective of tactical votes, fall back to their very core. The problem for the SLDs is that they have no core. They have no throbbing heart. They have no raison d’être.

    Unionist tactical votes are a false dawn for the SLDs, because one day those voters will all go “home”. And when that happens, the vacuum at the core will dissolve in a wee fart.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.

    Yep, that's fair. We forget just what a unique set of circumstances we are living through. They are literally unprecedented. Anyone making big calls now about what things will be like in two years should remember how very different the world was this time two years ago! Right now, optimism about the economy is stronger than it has been for a long, long time, people are getting vaxed, the furlough is still in operation and the triple lock is doing its thing.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,615

    rcs1000 said:

    Specific seats being targeted by the LibDems:

    Wimbledon
    Carshalton and Wallington
    Winchester
    Esher and Walton
    Guildford
    Eastbourne
    Wokingham
    Surrey South West
    Cheltenham
    Lewes

    And if this meme really takes off, which I think it will, there are a raft of other seats that could be under threat.

    Where does this leave Labour? I don't know to be honest.

    It leaves Scottish Labour grinning like a Cheshire cat.

    This is fantastic news for progressive opponents of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The more their English bosses chase votes in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire et al the easier it is to continue peeling away centre-left SLD voters.

    Without tactical voting the SLDs would be extinct.
    Given the LibDems are benefiting from unionist tactical voting, it's unclear that their specific policy platform has any impact on their Scottish electoral success (or otherwise).
    Tactical voting is, by its very nature, short-term. Eventually all declining parties, irrespective of tactical votes, fall back to their very core. The problem for the SLDs is that they have no core. They have no throbbing heart. They have no raison d’être.

    Unionist tactical votes are a false dawn for the SLDs, because one day those voters will all go “home”. And when that happens, the vacuum at the core will dissolve in a wee fart.
    I don't think that we can discount the effect of a Scottish national leader. For all her faults, Swinson was Scottish and represented a Scottish seat, albeit clearly a Scottish tradition that is anathema to you.

    All parties do better in Scotland when the national leader is Scottish. Brown held onto SLAB seats that would just be a dream now.

    The converse is that those 4 SLD seats do look vulnerable with Davey in charge.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652
    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.
    Thank you! But I’m not sure I’m “back”. Life moves on and PB is not the forum it once was. I can’t see me wasting too many hours arguing with folk on an obscure blog. I’m having far too much real-world fun! Just what doctors like to see :wink:

    I defer to your greater knowledge of Starmer. Like most folk, I’ve hardly seen the guy in action.

    Incidentally, fun times in Scandinavia. On Monday at 10am our PM is facing a vote of no confidence, and four of the eight parliamentary parties (V, SD, M, KD, ie enough) are saying they’re going to fell him.

    Why? Long story, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was a Social Democrat/Green coalition government legislating for the gradual abolition of rent control. The Left Party (renamed Communists) hit the roof.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,110

    rcs1000 said:

    Specific seats being targeted by the LibDems:

    Wimbledon
    Carshalton and Wallington
    Winchester
    Esher and Walton
    Guildford
    Eastbourne
    Wokingham
    Surrey South West
    Cheltenham
    Lewes

    And if this meme really takes off, which I think it will, there are a raft of other seats that could be under threat.

    Where does this leave Labour? I don't know to be honest.

    It leaves Scottish Labour grinning like a Cheshire cat.

    This is fantastic news for progressive opponents of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The more their English bosses chase votes in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire et al the easier it is to continue peeling away centre-left SLD voters.

    Without tactical voting the SLDs would be extinct.
    Given the LibDems are benefiting from unionist tactical voting, it's unclear that their specific policy platform has any impact on their Scottish electoral success (or otherwise).
    Tactical voting is, by its very nature, short-term. Eventually all declining parties, irrespective of tactical votes, fall back to their very core. The problem for the SLDs is that they have no core. They have no throbbing heart. They have no raison d’être.

    Unionist tactical votes are a false dawn for the SLDs, because one day those voters will all go “home”. And when that happens, the vacuum at the core will dissolve in a wee fart.
    That is, I'm afraid, very wishful thinking.

    Between 1983 and 2010 the primary axis in Scottish voting was Tory, anti-Tory. From 2015, it is unionist-nationalist.

    The unionist vote isn't going to fragment, indeed it's more likely to go in the opposite direction, and become ever more concentrated.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,615

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Johnson only likes delivering good news which works with his linguistic puffery. It really doesn't work when he is delivering bad news and he clearly doesn't relish it. His lockdown extension conference was a carcrash for example, indeed he looked drunk and dishevelled.

    The next 3 years are going to include plenty of bad news not conducive to his bullshitting.

  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Johnson only likes delivering good news which works with his linguistic puffery. It really doesn't work when he is delivering bad news and he clearly doesn't relish it. His lockdown extension conference was a carcrash for example, indeed he looked drunk and dishevelled.

    The next 3 years are going to include plenty of bad news not conducive to his bullshitting.

    Yep!

  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,542

    Any tory who turns around after this result and says, 'ah but it's far worse for Labour' is living a delusion.

    This is a catastrophic result for Johnson's Conservatives. We passed peak Boris on May 25th and I would not now bet on him winning the next General Election.

    There is no delusion in labour being unattractive to neither the red wall or the south and not to forget Scotland
    Labour are too unattractive to too many to gain power. But too big to let anyone else have a go.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,615

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.
    Thank you! But I’m not sure I’m “back”. Life moves on and PB is not the forum it once was. I can’t see me wasting too many hours arguing with folk on an obscure blog. I’m having far too much real-world fun! Just what doctors like to see :wink:

    I defer to your greater knowledge of Starmer. Like most folk, I’ve hardly seen the guy in action.

    Incidentally, fun times in Scandinavia. On Monday at 10am our PM is facing a vote of no confidence, and four of the eight parliamentary parties (V, SD, M, KD, ie enough) are saying they’re going to fell him.

    Why? Long story, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was a Social Democrat/Green coalition government legislating for the gradual abolition of rent control. The Left Party (renamed Communists) hit the roof.
    Yes, the Tory political hegemony of the Johnson fan boys can make PB a pretty repetitive place, but that will change. All political careers end in failure, and Johnson will not be the exception to that. Once he is not seen as an election winner, there is nothing to him, no hinterland of support at all. PB might well be interesting then.

    Who will be forming a new government if the Swedish coalition falls? A different coalition or new elections.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.

    Yep, that's fair. We forget just what a unique set of circumstances we are living through. They are literally unprecedented. Anyone making big calls now about what things will be like in two years should remember how very different the world was this time two years ago! Right now, optimism about the economy is stronger than it has been for a long, long time, people are getting vaxed, the furlough is still in operation and the triple lock is doing its thing.
    That optimism about the economy is entirely misplaced. Let’s just say that I’ve personally had it with equities. I’m as heavy on gold as any sane person can be.

    It’s the economy stupid! And when we say “economy” what we really mean is job security, career progression, grocery shopping and fun money. Take one look at Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and ask yourself if you’d trust him to hold your dog’s lead while you nip in to the corner shop? If the answer’s no, then why did you give him the security details to your bank account?
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,164

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Starmer looks doomed even if, as I expect, he holds B & S. BTW - have you seen the polling in Spain - nationally the PP are ahead - astonishingly big leads for the PP in Andalucia - which has been something of Spain's 'valla roja' in the past!
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,767
    John Harris, who is always worth listening to, has an interesting take on C&A.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/18/conservative-seat-england-middle-class-chesham-and-amersham-tories
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652
    felix said:

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Starmer looks doomed even if, as I expect, he holds B & S. BTW - have you seen the polling in Spain - nationally the PP are ahead - astonishingly big leads for the PP in Andalucia - which has been something of Spain's 'valla roja' in the past!

    Yep - the amnesty for the Catalan separatists is very predictably not proving tremendously popular! Andalucia has been moving away from PSOE for a while. However, there will soon be a lot of EU recovery money coming Spain's way. I suspect a fair chunk of that may end up in the south.

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,615

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.

    Yep, that's fair. We forget just what a unique set of circumstances we are living through. They are literally unprecedented. Anyone making big calls now about what things will be like in two years should remember how very different the world was this time two years ago! Right now, optimism about the economy is stronger than it has been for a long, long time, people are getting vaxed, the furlough is still in operation and the triple lock is doing its thing.
    That optimism about the economy is entirely misplaced. Let’s just say that I’ve personally had it with equities. I’m as heavy on gold as any sane person can be.

    It’s the economy stupid! And when we say “economy” what we really mean is job security, career progression, grocery shopping and fun money. Take one look at Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and ask yourself if you’d trust him to hold your dog’s lead while you nip in to the corner shop? If the answer’s no, then why did you give him the security details to your bank account?
    I agree. Of course the GDP figures look good when we are running the biggest deficit in peacetime history, hosing money everywhere. Soon though that has to be paid for.

    I am bearish on equities too at present. Those who have done well with their finances in lockdown have had to put their money somewhere, and that has been equities and property. Inflation is building, and we see in the markets how they drop with even a hint that higher interest rates are on the way.

    I certainly wouldn't want to be holding stocks that have taken on a lot of debt that they will struggle to refinance. There are lots of zombie businesses out there.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,652

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.

    Yep, that's fair. We forget just what a unique set of circumstances we are living through. They are literally unprecedented. Anyone making big calls now about what things will be like in two years should remember how very different the world was this time two years ago! Right now, optimism about the economy is stronger than it has been for a long, long time, people are getting vaxed, the furlough is still in operation and the triple lock is doing its thing.
    That optimism about the economy is entirely misplaced. Let’s just say that I’ve personally had it with equities. I’m as heavy on gold as any sane person can be.

    It’s the economy stupid! And when we say “economy” what we really mean is job security, career progression, grocery shopping and fun money. Take one look at Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and ask yourself if you’d trust him to hold your dog’s lead while you nip in to the corner shop? If the answer’s no, then why did you give him the security details to your bank account?

    That B&S Survation poll tells us that over 50% of voters there believe he is untrustworthy.

  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Specific seats being targeted by the LibDems:

    Wimbledon
    Carshalton and Wallington
    Winchester
    Esher and Walton
    Guildford
    Eastbourne
    Wokingham
    Surrey South West
    Cheltenham
    Lewes

    And if this meme really takes off, which I think it will, there are a raft of other seats that could be under threat.

    Where does this leave Labour? I don't know to be honest.

    It leaves Scottish Labour grinning like a Cheshire cat.

    This is fantastic news for progressive opponents of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The more their English bosses chase votes in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire et al the easier it is to continue peeling away centre-left SLD voters.

    Without tactical voting the SLDs would be extinct.
    Given the LibDems are benefiting from unionist tactical voting, it's unclear that their specific policy platform has any impact on their Scottish electoral success (or otherwise).
    Tactical voting is, by its very nature, short-term. Eventually all declining parties, irrespective of tactical votes, fall back to their very core. The problem for the SLDs is that they have no core. They have no throbbing heart. They have no raison d’être.

    Unionist tactical votes are a false dawn for the SLDs, because one day those voters will all go “home”. And when that happens, the vacuum at the core will dissolve in a wee fart.
    I don't think that we can discount the effect of a Scottish national leader. For all her faults, Swinson was Scottish and represented a Scottish seat, albeit clearly a Scottish tradition that is anathema to you.

    All parties do better in Scotland when the national leader is Scottish. Brown held onto SLAB seats that would just be a dream now.

    The converse is that those 4 SLD seats do look vulnerable with Davey in charge.
    Au contraire! The Scottish Liberal tradition is far from anathema to me. It is what I am: a liberal Scot. Jo Swinson could be my sister. I was surrounded by folk like her and Rennie and co during my comfortable Edinburgh upbringing. These are (or rather could be) my ain folk.

    Post-independence I’ll be out of the SNP in a flash and trying to rebuild a truly liberal Scottish tradition.

    This is why I am so disappointed by SLDs: they could so easily be a force for good, but they have chosen the dark side. Hell mend them.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,414
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Johnson only likes delivering good news which works with his linguistic puffery. It really doesn't work when he is delivering bad news and he clearly doesn't relish it. His lockdown extension conference was a carcrash for example, indeed he looked drunk and dishevelled.

    The next 3 years are going to include plenty of bad news not conducive to his bullshitting.

    He did indeed. I also wonder if he's going bald, from the look of him when he was on the TV explaining away C&A . Now I don't think it matters; normal male genetics, of course, but it won't fit his 'blond mop' image, and he won't like it.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,615

    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Specific seats being targeted by the LibDems:

    Wimbledon
    Carshalton and Wallington
    Winchester
    Esher and Walton
    Guildford
    Eastbourne
    Wokingham
    Surrey South West
    Cheltenham
    Lewes

    And if this meme really takes off, which I think it will, there are a raft of other seats that could be under threat.

    Where does this leave Labour? I don't know to be honest.

    It leaves Scottish Labour grinning like a Cheshire cat.

    This is fantastic news for progressive opponents of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The more their English bosses chase votes in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire et al the easier it is to continue peeling away centre-left SLD voters.

    Without tactical voting the SLDs would be extinct.
    Given the LibDems are benefiting from unionist tactical voting, it's unclear that their specific policy platform has any impact on their Scottish electoral success (or otherwise).
    Tactical voting is, by its very nature, short-term. Eventually all declining parties, irrespective of tactical votes, fall back to their very core. The problem for the SLDs is that they have no core. They have no throbbing heart. They have no raison d’être.

    Unionist tactical votes are a false dawn for the SLDs, because one day those voters will all go “home”. And when that happens, the vacuum at the core will dissolve in a wee fart.
    I don't think that we can discount the effect of a Scottish national leader. For all her faults, Swinson was Scottish and represented a Scottish seat, albeit clearly a Scottish tradition that is anathema to you.

    All parties do better in Scotland when the national leader is Scottish. Brown held onto SLAB seats that would just be a dream now.

    The converse is that those 4 SLD seats do look vulnerable with Davey in charge.
    Au contraire! The Scottish Liberal tradition is far from anathema to me. It is what I am: a liberal Scot. Jo Swinson could be my sister. I was surrounded by folk like her and Rennie and co during my comfortable Edinburgh upbringing. These are (or rather could be) my ain folk.

    Post-independence I’ll be out of the SNP in a flash and trying to rebuild a truly liberal Scottish tradition.

    This is why I am so disappointed by SLDs: they could so easily be a force for good, but they have chosen the dark side. Hell mend them.
    My mistake! Indeed post Indy Scottish politics will be interesting indeed.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,414
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Specific seats being targeted by the LibDems:

    Wimbledon
    Carshalton and Wallington
    Winchester
    Esher and Walton
    Guildford
    Eastbourne
    Wokingham
    Surrey South West
    Cheltenham
    Lewes

    And if this meme really takes off, which I think it will, there are a raft of other seats that could be under threat.

    Where does this leave Labour? I don't know to be honest.

    It leaves Scottish Labour grinning like a Cheshire cat.

    This is fantastic news for progressive opponents of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The more their English bosses chase votes in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire et al the easier it is to continue peeling away centre-left SLD voters.

    Without tactical voting the SLDs would be extinct.
    Given the LibDems are benefiting from unionist tactical voting, it's unclear that their specific policy platform has any impact on their Scottish electoral success (or otherwise).
    Tactical voting is, by its very nature, short-term. Eventually all declining parties, irrespective of tactical votes, fall back to their very core. The problem for the SLDs is that they have no core. They have no throbbing heart. They have no raison d’être.

    Unionist tactical votes are a false dawn for the SLDs, because one day those voters will all go “home”. And when that happens, the vacuum at the core will dissolve in a wee fart.
    I don't think that we can discount the effect of a Scottish national leader. For all her faults, Swinson was Scottish and represented a Scottish seat, albeit clearly a Scottish tradition that is anathema to you.

    All parties do better in Scotland when the national leader is Scottish. Brown held onto SLAB seats that would just be a dream now.

    The converse is that those 4 SLD seats do look vulnerable with Davey in charge.
    Au contraire! The Scottish Liberal tradition is far from anathema to me. It is what I am: a liberal Scot. Jo Swinson could be my sister. I was surrounded by folk like her and Rennie and co during my comfortable Edinburgh upbringing. These are (or rather could be) my ain folk.

    Post-independence I’ll be out of the SNP in a flash and trying to rebuild a truly liberal Scottish tradition.

    This is why I am so disappointed by SLDs: they could so easily be a force for good, but they have chosen the dark side. Hell mend them.
    My mistake! Indeed post Indy Scottish politics will be interesting indeed.
    Surely that's almost a given for Nationalist parties; once the prime aim has been achieved then, it's a question of how to run the country.
    The once monolithic Congress Party in India is a mess, and even the ANC in S Africa is having trouble.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,808

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Johnson only likes delivering good news which works with his linguistic puffery. It really doesn't work when he is delivering bad news and he clearly doesn't relish it. His lockdown extension conference was a carcrash for example, indeed he looked drunk and dishevelled.

    The next 3 years are going to include plenty of bad news not conducive to his bullshitting.

    He did indeed. I also wonder if he's going bald, from the look of him when he was on the TV explaining away C&A . Now I don't think it matters; normal male genetics, of course, but it won't fit his 'blond mop' image, and he won't like it.
    Trump found the solution to this problem!
  • felix said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    While I am not Johnson's greatest fan as leader or PM he clearly has achieved a degree of popularity among lower income voters in the north and elsewhere which is really quite extraordinary. Indeed in the main he seems to do better the more strident is the criticism he receives on social and a fair bit of the national media. Could it be that they don't really understand the folk they are endlessly preaching to? :smiley:
    I'm not sure it is quite that, but there do seem to be (at least) three components to blue strength in the wall formerly known as red.

    Boris is charismatic. He learned, or at least honed his craft on television. We think we know him in the same way we presume to know anyone off the telly. He is like Presidents Trump and Reagan in this respect, or Arnie as Governor of California. Take away the mass media and Boris has made an awful lot of speeches, like Ken Livingstone and Jeremy Corbyn, but unlike most recent politicians. He has the easy charm of Tony Blair.

    This is anecdotal, and from the South rather than the North, but I have overheard people turning away any criticism of Boris, with something along the lines of, "you're only complaining about that because it is Boris". We sometimes read on this very PB that such and such criticism can be dismissed because the person making it is suffering from Boris derangement syndrome.

    There is also the sense that Boris is "on our side". Or at least, that Labour is not "on our side". This is partly about the culture war CCHQ is fighting but also that Boris won the fight for Brexit and now is leading the fight against the pandemic, and no doubt partly because Keir Starmer's Labour does not seem to stand for anything at all.
    I think this is valid. There is a perception, whatever PBers may say, that the PM is a leader and SKS does not have that. Partly this is obviously because of the situation, all the Covid and brexit wins have his stamp on them, partially because his many enemies in the media want him to “own” what they see as those failings. SKS does not have this. Indeed he is seen as weak and when people vote in a GE they look for a party who is led by someone with leadership qualities.
    Whether these perceptions are fair or not doesn’t matter. These things matter.
    Of course things can and will change and we have a long way to go until the GE but that is how it looks to me now.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,414

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Johnson only likes delivering good news which works with his linguistic puffery. It really doesn't work when he is delivering bad news and he clearly doesn't relish it. His lockdown extension conference was a carcrash for example, indeed he looked drunk and dishevelled.

    The next 3 years are going to include plenty of bad news not conducive to his bullshitting.

    He did indeed. I also wonder if he's going bald, from the look of him when he was on the TV explaining away C&A . Now I don't think it matters; normal male genetics, of course, but it won't fit his 'blond mop' image, and he won't like it.
    Trump found the solution to this problem!
    Really? The cure was far worse than the disease.

    Although I would emphasise that baldness, before anyone accuses me of some sort of prejudice, is within the 'normal' range for male Homo sapiens.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,615
    edited June 2021

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Johnson only likes delivering good news which works with his linguistic puffery. It really doesn't work when he is delivering bad news and he clearly doesn't relish it. His lockdown extension conference was a carcrash for example, indeed he looked drunk and dishevelled.

    The next 3 years are going to include plenty of bad news not conducive to his bullshitting.

    He did indeed. I also wonder if he's going bald, from the look of him when he was on the TV explaining away C&A . Now I don't think it matters; normal male genetics, of course, but it won't fit his 'blond mop' image, and he won't like it.
    Trump found the solution to this problem!
    Really? The cure was far worse than the disease.

    Although I would emphasise that baldness, before anyone accuses me of some sort of prejudice, is within the 'normal' range for male Homo sapiens.
    Not within the Johnson family though. Stanley has kept his blonde mop, and expect his sons will too.

    Whether his liver survives as long is another question.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,414

    felix said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    While I am not Johnson's greatest fan as leader or PM he clearly has achieved a degree of popularity among lower income voters in the north and elsewhere which is really quite extraordinary. Indeed in the main he seems to do better the more strident is the criticism he receives on social and a fair bit of the national media. Could it be that they don't really understand the folk they are endlessly preaching to? :smiley:
    I'm not sure it is quite that, but there do seem to be (at least) three components to blue strength in the wall formerly known as red.

    Boris is charismatic. He learned, or at least honed his craft on television. We think we know him in the same way we presume to know anyone off the telly. He is like Presidents Trump and Reagan in this respect, or Arnie as Governor of California. Take away the mass media and Boris has made an awful lot of speeches, like Ken Livingstone and Jeremy Corbyn, but unlike most recent politicians. He has the easy charm of Tony Blair.

    This is anecdotal, and from the South rather than the North, but I have overheard people turning away any criticism of Boris, with something along the lines of, "you're only complaining about that because it is Boris". We sometimes read on this very PB that such and such criticism can be dismissed because the person making it is suffering from Boris derangement syndrome.

    There is also the sense that Boris is "on our side". Or at least, that Labour is not "on our side". This is partly about the culture war CCHQ is fighting but also that Boris won the fight for Brexit and now is leading the fight against the pandemic, and no doubt partly because Keir Starmer's Labour does not seem to stand for anything at all.
    I think this is valid. There is a perception, whatever PBers may say, that the PM is a leader and SKS does not have that. Partly this is obviously because of the situation, all the Covid and brexit wins have his stamp on them, partially because his many enemies in the media want him to “own” what they see as those failings. SKS does not have this. Indeed he is seen as weak and when people vote in a GE they look for a party who is led by someone with leadership qualities.
    Whether these perceptions are fair or not doesn’t matter. These things matter.
    Of course things can and will change and we have a long way to go until the GE but that is how it looks to me now.
    Johnson's 'hero' is Churchill, and he appears to like to be compared to him. However, Churchill lost to the charisma-light Attlee in 1950, although I would suggest that at the time Churchill was far, far more popular than Johnson is now.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,414
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Johnson only likes delivering good news which works with his linguistic puffery. It really doesn't work when he is delivering bad news and he clearly doesn't relish it. His lockdown extension conference was a carcrash for example, indeed he looked drunk and dishevelled.

    The next 3 years are going to include plenty of bad news not conducive to his bullshitting.

    He did indeed. I also wonder if he's going bald, from the look of him when he was on the TV explaining away C&A . Now I don't think it matters; normal male genetics, of course, but it won't fit his 'blond mop' image, and he won't like it.
    Trump found the solution to this problem!
    Really? The cure was far worse than the disease.

    Although I would emphasise that baldness, before anyone accuses me of some sort of prejudice, is within the 'normal' range for male Homo sapiens.
    Not within the Johnson family though. Stanley has kept his blonde mop, and expect his sons will too.

    Whether his liver survives as long is another question.
    Doesn't necessarily follow. In spite of my avatar I've a full head of hair, but my elder son's forehead is getting further and further back! My father's hair was quite sparse, too.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 19,883
    A very readable article. I was intrigued by this in his opening paragraph.

    Four days ago, a former insider at a London-based thinktank wrote a piece for the Spectator about the forthcoming Chesham and Amersham byelection..........“Hopefully then we can stop hearing any rubbish about how the Lib Dems are set to tear down the Conservatives’ ‘blue wall’ in the home counties,” he wrote.........

    Unfortunately not being a subscriber to the Spectator-I loathe it almost as much as the Telegraph-I have no idea who the former insider is! If anyone here is a subscriber (I promise not to tell anyone) can they tell me the author of the article?
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,767
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Johnson only likes delivering good news which works with his linguistic puffery. It really doesn't work when he is delivering bad news and he clearly doesn't relish it. His lockdown extension conference was a carcrash for example, indeed he looked drunk and dishevelled.

    The next 3 years are going to include plenty of bad news not conducive to his bullshitting.

    He did indeed. I also wonder if he's going bald, from the look of him when he was on the TV explaining away C&A . Now I don't think it matters; normal male genetics, of course, but it won't fit his 'blond mop' image, and he won't like it.
    Trump found the solution to this problem!
    Really? The cure was far worse than the disease.

    Although I would emphasise that baldness, before anyone accuses me of some sort of prejudice, is within the 'normal' range for male Homo sapiens.
    Not within the Johnson family though. Stanley has kept his blonde mop, and expect his sons will too.

    Whether his liver survives as long is another question.
    Doesn't it come from your mother's father? Certainly did in my case!
  • JH is always interesting and tries to look beyond his own biases. An increasingly rare attribute
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,977
    Roger said:

    Four days ago, a former insider at a London-based thinktank wrote a piece for the Spectator about the forthcoming Chesham and Amersham byelection..........“Hopefully then we can stop hearing any rubbish about how the Lib Dems are set to tear down the Conservatives’ ‘blue wall’ in the home counties,” he wrote.........

    ...
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    The don’t knows don’t matter

    ‘The Optical Illusion of Net Ratings’

    http://aboutasfarasdelgados.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-optical-illusion-of-net-ratings.html

  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,496

    In some ways a Cons victory in B&S may not be the worst thing. A case of losing the battle to win the war. Why so? Because the meme is now set: the tories only care about the red wall. This is going down like a lead balloon in the south. Today's newspapers, across the spectrum, are full of it and the Co-Chair of the tory party + up to 100 tory MP's are saying the same thing.

    That message, that the tories only care about the red wall, could lose them the next election.

    This view has to be balanced by the fact that regional polling figures are roughly Con 50 Lab 25 in South outside London, and Con 40+ Lab 40ish in the North.

    Come a GE and a choice between Con and Lab coalition government, the south, outside London and Toynbeeville will vote Conservative.

  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,496
    Scott_xP said:

    Roger said:

    Four days ago, a former insider at a London-based thinktank wrote a piece for the Spectator about the forthcoming Chesham and Amersham byelection..........“Hopefully then we can stop hearing any rubbish about how the Lib Dems are set to tear down the Conservatives’ ‘blue wall’ in the home counties,” he wrote.........

    ...
    We shall carry on hearing it, and it will be false. Try Newbury for example.

  • felix said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    While I am not Johnson's greatest fan as leader or PM he clearly has achieved a degree of popularity among lower income voters in the north and elsewhere which is really quite extraordinary. Indeed in the main he seems to do better the more strident is the criticism he receives on social and a fair bit of the national media. Could it be that they don't really understand the folk they are endlessly preaching to? :smiley:
    I'm not sure it is quite that, but there do seem to be (at least) three components to blue strength in the wall formerly known as red.

    Boris is charismatic. He learned, or at least honed his craft on television. We think we know him in the same way we presume to know anyone off the telly. He is like Presidents Trump and Reagan in this respect, or Arnie as Governor of California. Take away the mass media and Boris has made an awful lot of speeches, like Ken Livingstone and Jeremy Corbyn, but unlike most recent politicians. He has the easy charm of Tony Blair.

    This is anecdotal, and from the South rather than the North, but I have overheard people turning away any criticism of Boris, with something along the lines of, "you're only complaining about that because it is Boris". We sometimes read on this very PB that such and such criticism can be dismissed because the person making it is suffering from Boris derangement syndrome.

    There is also the sense that Boris is "on our side". Or at least, that Labour is not "on our side". This is partly about the culture war CCHQ is fighting but also that Boris won the fight for Brexit and now is leading the fight against the pandemic, and no doubt partly because Keir Starmer's Labour does not seem to stand for anything at all.
    I think this is valid. There is a perception, whatever PBers may say, that the PM is a leader and SKS does not have that. Partly this is obviously because of the situation, all the Covid and brexit wins have his stamp on them, partially because his many enemies in the media want him to “own” what they see as those failings. SKS does not have this. Indeed he is seen as weak and when people vote in a GE they look for a party who is led by someone with leadership qualities.
    Whether these perceptions are fair or not doesn’t matter. These things matter.
    Of course things can and will change and we have a long way to go until the GE but that is how it looks to me now.
    Johnson's 'hero' is Churchill, and he appears to like to be compared to him. However, Churchill lost to the charisma-light Attlee in 1950, although I would suggest that at the time Churchill was far, far more popular than Johnson is now.
    By that time Attlee had had the chance to prove himself, as indeed he had by the post war election through being in the wartime cabinet.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,767
    isam said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    The don’t knows don’t matter

    ‘The Optical Illusion of Net Ratings’

    http://aboutasfarasdelgados.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-optical-illusion-of-net-ratings.html

    When the next election is most likely years away, don't knows aren't a bad thing - they're voters who may still be open to your message. If they're still don't knows at election time it's a different story. Starmer could still convert them to positives, the Covid crisis has robbed him of the opportunity to set out his stall so far. Whether he will or not is a different story. I have always thought he was a bit "meh", which is why I backed Nandy for leader, so I'm not massively optimistic.
  • Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    “Meh” might just be good enough. Governments lose, oppositions don’t win.

    Being boring, predictable and uninspiring (or “meh” as you put it) might soon make Starmer seem like a godsent safe haven for English voters disgusted with the Tory revolution. After all, revolutions usually have counter-revolutions, and they are never pretty events for the erstwhile revolutionaries.
    No, I cannot see Starmer making headway. He is a terrible campaigner and communicator and while I suspect he is a decent bloke with sound values seems devoid of any inspirational ideas.

    Good to have you back by the way.

    Starmer will not make headway, he is clearly not politically astute and does not have the charisma to overcome that. But voting sentiment can change for other reasons. If voters do not want a majority Tory government by the time of the next GE they will find ways to ensure they don't get one.

    Johnson only likes delivering good news which works with his linguistic puffery. It really doesn't work when he is delivering bad news and he clearly doesn't relish it. His lockdown extension conference was a carcrash for example, indeed he looked drunk and dishevelled.

    The next 3 years are going to include plenty of bad news not conducive to his bullshitting.

    He did indeed. I also wonder if he's going bald, from the look of him when he was on the TV explaining away C&A . Now I don't think it matters; normal male genetics, of course, but it won't fit his 'blond mop' image, and he won't like it.
    Trump found the solution to this problem!
    Really? The cure was far worse than the disease.

    Although I would emphasise that baldness, before anyone accuses me of some sort of prejudice, is within the 'normal' range for male Homo sapiens.
    Not within the Johnson family though. Stanley has kept his blonde mop, and expect his sons will too.

    Whether his liver survives as long is another question.
    Doesn't it come from your mother's father? Certainly did in my case!
    And mine sadly. My dad and his brothers (late 70s-80s) all still have a full mop. I had an “egg in the nest” by my mid 20s.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    21k Lib Dem + Lab votes at 2019 GE, 21k on Thursday

    The Tories vote dropped by the same amount as the turnout

    I think it was stay at home Tories vs enthusiastic Remainers.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 19,883

    felix said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    While I am not Johnson's greatest fan as leader or PM he clearly has achieved a degree of popularity among lower income voters in the north and elsewhere which is really quite extraordinary. Indeed in the main he seems to do better the more strident is the criticism he receives on social and a fair bit of the national media. Could it be that they don't really understand the folk they are endlessly preaching to? :smiley:
    I'm not sure it is quite that, but there do seem to be (at least) three components to blue strength in the wall formerly known as red.

    Boris is charismatic. He learned, or at least honed his craft on television. We think we know him in the same way we presume to know anyone off the telly. He is like Presidents Trump and Reagan in this respect, or Arnie as Governor of California. Take away the mass media and Boris has made an awful lot of speeches, like Ken Livingstone and Jeremy Corbyn, but unlike most recent politicians. He has the easy charm of Tony Blair.

    This is anecdotal, and from the South rather than the North, but I have overheard people turning away any criticism of Boris, with something along the lines of, "you're only complaining about that because it is Boris". We sometimes read on this very PB that such and such criticism can be dismissed because the person making it is suffering from Boris derangement syndrome.

    There is also the sense that Boris is "on our side". Or at least, that Labour is not "on our side". This is partly about the culture war CCHQ is fighting but also that Boris won the fight for Brexit and now is leading the fight against the pandemic, and no doubt partly because Keir Starmer's Labour does not seem to stand for anything at all.
    A very good summation. I just struggle with the idea that he has charm. Still less that he has the charm of Tony Blair. It's a bit like that line they use about the Kray twins "They're great lads. They look after their own". There are some who'll agree but there are a hell of a lot who hear it and want to retch
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118

    isam said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    The don’t knows don’t matter

    ‘The Optical Illusion of Net Ratings’

    http://aboutasfarasdelgados.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-optical-illusion-of-net-ratings.html

    When the next election is most likely years away, don't knows aren't a bad thing - they're voters who may still be open to your message. If they're still don't knows at election time it's a different story. Starmer could still convert them to positives, the Covid crisis has robbed him of the opportunity to set out his stall so far. Whether he will or not is a different story. I have always thought he was a bit "meh", which is why I backed Nandy for leader, so I'm not massively optimistic.
    Only 70% of people vote, and I’d say the Don’t knows are most of the 30%, so a lot of them is comforting, but deceiving
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    Regarding this poll, I don’t think 47-41 is that bad for Labour given the betting odds, and 3-1 is worth a bet
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,496

    JH is always interesting and tries to look beyond his own biases. An increasingly rare attribute
    Good take by the excellent John Harris. However, just notice how as the Tories develop a stance more popular with the north, the poor, the working class in general and their aspirations, the de haut en bas Guardian leads the charge against them.

  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    algarkirk said:

    JH is always interesting and tries to look beyond his own biases. An increasingly rare attribute
    Good take by the excellent John Harris. However, just notice how as the Tories develop a stance more popular with the north, the poor, the working class in general and their aspirations, the de haut en bas Guardian leads the charge against them.

    I felt dirty voting Tory for the first time in Dec 2019, but knowing the Golf club bores, retired majors in blazers and bored middle class housewives in the Home Counties are still on the other side has made me a lot happier about it
  • NemtynakhtNemtynakht Posts: 2,329

    In some ways a Cons victory in B&S may not be the worst thing. A case of losing the battle to win the war. Why so? Because the meme is now set: the tories only care about the red wall. This is going down like a lead balloon in the south. Today's newspapers, across the spectrum, are full of it and the Co-Chair of the tory party + up to 100 tory MP's are saying the same thing.

    That message, that the tories only care about the red wall, could lose them the next election.

    rcs1000 said:

    felix said:

    How very odd to omit the use of the word 'Conservative' from the title of the thread header? Apparently they have become 'the party that lost 20%..' I cannot puzzle that one out. Not noted yesterday, for obvious reasons were some good local results for the Tories in the SW and Scotland.
    For me the in B & S Survation poll is a big surprise - I expected it to be way closer and maybe in 2 weeks, it will be. Either way the fact that so much of the news is focusing on Keir Starmer's troubles should be very worrying for Labour and a huge relief for the Tories.
    In C & A a huge LD success and a poor result for the government. I think the T. Villiers analysis on this may be correct but if so it should be resisted. The country needs more homes in many places and the NIMBY tendency,while understandable, is not going to help any government, now or for the future.

    There's a conflict between system optima (more homes) and local optima (no additional stress on local services).

    But here's the thing: there are areas of the UK with more than adequate numbers of homes. Those areas, though, don't have jobs or opportunities. While the UK population has increased markedly in the last 30 years, the populations of Salford and Sunderland have declined. Some places, like Bolton, have seen their populations drop by a quarter in the last century.

    A successful government would bring the North up, so that the South didn't need to build too many new homes. Win, win.

    I think that when they are next allowed conferences etc this needs to be the Tory message - it probably already is but the change in voting in red wall seats makes a compelling story and is interesting to journalists. It is fairly easy story to tell that there has been a catch 22 - people flock to South East, money gets spent on services in SE. If the levers of Government are used to move spending and jobs out of London / SE it provides space for other business to back fill in London, and it provides jobs and a place for focussed investment elsewhere. It is actually quite a one nation Tory message I think, and it baffles me why Labour didn't focus on doing that.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    isam said:

    isam said:

    Good morning

    The details of this poll in the Daily Mail are a horror show for Starmer

    Boris even leads on trustworthy and the NHS

    Starmer only leads on understands workers by 38 to 33

    Best PM

    Boris 55 Starmer 18 DK 23

    Best for North

    Boris 40 Starmer 32 DK 28

    Strong

    Boris 54 Starmer 24

    Trustworthy

    Boris 39 Starmer 32

    Intelligent

    Boris 73 Starmer 67

    Charismatic

    Boris 60 Starmer 23

    Understands workers

    Boris 33 Starmer 38

    Has a clear stand

    Boris 50 Starmer 32

    And Best policies

    Brexit

    Boris 57 Starmer 17

    Covid

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    Economy

    Boris 55 Starmer 21

    NHS

    Boris 45 Starmer 30

    Caribbean religion alert:

    Small (510), unweighted sample.

    I’m rather surprised that Survation have allowed their good name to be associated with non-dom Harmsworth and his henchmen. If forced to deal with such people one should insist on applying the most stringent professional standards. Maybe the other polling companies did insist… and lost the job?

    https://www.survation.com/conservatives-lead-new-polling-for-batley-and-spen-by-election/

    (There is a link to the detailed tables at the bottom, but at time of writing it doesn’t work.)
    Is this a case of choosing the poll you like or do not like

    Survation are as reputable as any other polling company

    Indeed why would Mike use it as a thread header
    I have no horse in this race. Both the Conservatives and Labour are disgraceful organisations, with dire leaders.

    However, as a former market research professional, I have residual fondness for the sector, and am genuinely disappointed when an otherwise reputable pollster allows their good name to be associated with typical DM guff.

    Mike, like any media owner, knows that a shouty poll sells. Personally, I usually find the tasty bits are deep in the tables, and missed by 99.9% of readers.

    The poll is legitimate, the presentation is selective. The Johnson/Starmer head to heads are a lot more nuanced than the headlines suggest and owe a lot to high Don't Knows for Starmer. For example, on trust/distrust it's Johnson 39/51 and Starmer 32/44 and on intelligent/not intelligent it's Johnson 73/20 and Starmer 67/16. That's not to say Starmer's numbers are good - they are far from that - but they are not as bad as you might initially imagine. He is more meh than anything else.

    The don’t knows don’t matter

    ‘The Optical Illusion of Net Ratings’

    http://aboutasfarasdelgados.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-optical-illusion-of-net-ratings.html

    When the next election is most likely years away, don't knows aren't a bad thing - they're voters who may still be open to your message. If they're still don't knows at election time it's a different story. Starmer could still convert them to positives, the Covid crisis has robbed him of the opportunity to set out his stall so far. Whether he will or not is a different story. I have always thought he was a bit "meh", which is why I backed Nandy for leader, so I'm not massively optimistic.
    Only 70% of people vote, and I’d say the Don’t knows are most of the 30%, so a lot of them is comforting, but deceiving
    Deceptive
  • RogerRoger Posts: 19,883
    isam said:

    algarkirk said:

    JH is always interesting and tries to look beyond his own biases. An increasingly rare attribute
    Good take by the excellent John Harris. However, just notice how as the Tories develop a stance more popular with the north, the poor, the working class in general and their aspirations, the de haut en bas Guardian leads the charge against them.

    I felt dirty voting Tory for the first time in Dec 2019, but knowing the Golf club bores, retired majors in blazers and bored middle class housewives in the Home Counties are still on the other side has made me a lot happier about it
    Who did you vote for before you voted Tory? UKIP?
This discussion has been closed.