Bob Piper has been a Labour Councillor for the Abbey
Ward in Sandwell, West Midlands, for 10 years. He is a lifelong supporter of Aston Villa Football Club and a follower of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
The views expressed here are mine in a personal capacity, not those of the Labour Party, Sandwell MBC, Aston Villa or Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Get it! Mine... just mine!
Promoted by Bob Piper of 115 Barclay Rd, B67 5JZ on behalf of the Labour Party, care of 39 Victoria Street London, SW1H 0HA . Hosted (printed) by Swaithe Internet Solutions who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.
Please note however, that The Labour Party is not responsible for the content of this website or individual posts as, unless specifically stated, I am writing solely in a personal and individual capacity.
Promoted by Bob Piper of 115 Barclay Rd, B67 5JZ on behalf of the Labour Party, care of 39 Victoria Street London, SW1H 0HA . Hosted (printed) by Swaithe Internet Solutions who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.
Please note however, that The Labour Party is not responsible for the content of this website or individual posts as, unless specifically stated, I am writing solely in a personal and individual capacity.
"So the latest survey in the Mail on Sunday showing disastrous shares for Labour was tucked away in the final paragraph of another story even though it must have cost several thousand pounds to commission. The Ipsos-MORI poll hardly registered as did the Channel 4 marginals poll from YouGov that pointed to a Tory majority of 54.
The only numbers that journalists want to focus on are those that support the narrative. So responses to questions like the one talking of "Gordon Brown's decisive handling of the bank crisis" are given prominence without any of the so-called media political experts pausing to question whether this form of wording might lead to pro-government findings."
However, he then goes on to say...
"All this is why the only numbers that matter are on voting intention and why this site will continue to put the focus on them."
Well, that may well be true if you want to concentrate on the numbers. But the political temperature is more than just a snapshot of opinion on any given day. The fact that the media are now homing in on the "Brown rescues Britain" story is only a counterbalance to the "Brown is a disaster" story they were running for the 12 months prior to that because Brown had embarrassed the media when he didn't call the general election they had all predicted. The impact of that massively influenced public opinion, and over the next six months, if the "recovery" story continues it will be interesting to see how the figures that Smithson and his fellow gamblers follow so avidly, start to turn round.
In actual fact, Mr Smithson, the only figures that really matter, are the numbers of votes cast for each candidate on election day.
kardinalbirkutski said:
November 4, 2008 9:41 AM | permalink
Nope: the negative press came 90% from the anti-Brown camp briefing against him and providing the narrative for the media, all reaching a crescendo during the "silly season". Only once (BBC/Gilligan/Iraq etc) has the critical mass of the media (print and otherwise) not been four-square behind New Labour. Once the party
re-united, then -hey presto- the save the NuLab
project went back into overdrive!
True, but Bob over the next six months there are going to be at two moments of truth - Glenrothes this week and the Euro elections in the spring.
If Labour lose Glenrothes that will derail the entire new 'Labour recovery' narrative - putting us back onto the 'Labour doomed' narrative that saw us from October '07 to OCtober '08.
Media narratives can survive for a while disconnected from reality, but not for all that long...
Oh dear, Mr. Piper, your last sentence is the classic response of a man very definitely on the wrong end of public opinion - or at least, public opinion polls. And the worst is yet to come!
From what I saw in the media this morning, a couple of papers were saying that the financial crisis won't be enough to save Brown - which is a welcome change of tune.
Yeah right kardi.
My vivid recollection is of that nit Quentin Letts, saying during an interview that the press would be giving Brown a good kicking because of the non-election.
And that's exactly what happened.
The press work in a pack duh!
David, no, I think you will find it is a statement of fact... although you might struggle with that sort of notion, because fantasy is so much more comfortable.
The people who are now predicting a comfortable Tory win will look back with some embarrassment about similar sorts of noises they were making 4 years ago when the Iraq war started going pear shaped.
So... let me get this straight.... kardi says the press pack are, as ever, New Labour - except he can't spell it - and Letters from a Tory says they are already turning back in Dave's direction.
November 4, 2008 9:41 AM | permalink
Nope: the negative press came 90% from the anti-Brown camp briefing against him and providing the narrative for the media, all reaching a crescendo during the "silly season". Only once (BBC/Gilligan/Iraq etc) has the critical mass of the media (print and otherwise) not been four-square behind New Labour. Once the party
re-united, then -hey presto- the save the NuLab
project went back into overdrive!