The latest YouGov polling has shown a bounce for the Labour Party. It comes in the wake of leader Keir Starmer’s interview with Piers Morgan. But don’t get too excited – because blink and you’d miss the miniscule increase.
Starmer: ‘the Masked Chancer’
Morgan interviewed Starmer on Tuesday 1 June on ITV’s Life Stories. As SKWAWKBOX wrote, the show was “an embarrassing performance” from the Labour leader. BBC News wrote:
Asked by Morgan about criticism that he doesn’t show enough emotion, the Labour leader said: “There is a huge passion [in me], but passion comes in different shapes and sizes.”
He promised a tour of the country over the summer to speak to people “who are no longer voting Labour and hear for myself what they have to say”, appealing for the public to “let me get out there and let me take the mask off”.
“Take the mask off”? So, Starmer has been hiding his true feelings and politics all this time? Who knew?
Stick to the script
As SKWAWKBOX reported, after the show some Twitter accounts were churning out similar scripts:
I judge people as I find them, I’ve always found @Keir_Starmer to be warm and considerate, with a steely dedication, drive & passion 4 his work. A top professional & top bloke, I'll hear nothing else’s on the matter. #KeirStarmer would make a superb #PrimeMinister #LifeStories pic.twitter.com/HQMiUen39e
— Flora_Gibson #FBPE (@Flora_Gibson_) June 2, 2021
I judge people as I find them, I’ve always found @Keir_Starmer to be warm and considerate, with a steely dedication, drive and passion for his work. A top professional and top bloke, I will hear nothing else’s on the matter. Keir would make a superb Prime Minister #LifeStories
— James Metcalfe (@MrJMetcalfe) June 1, 2021
SKWAWKBOX said it was:
Assuming the phenomenon to have resulted from some ‘Starmer central’ memo to his dwindling band of supporters in an attempt to bolster his credibility after an embarrassing performance on Piers Morgan’s programme
Where’s the ‘bounce’ Starmer?
But sadly for Starmer and his team, all the copying and pasting on Twitter and personal stories on Morgan’s show don’t seem to have worked. Because if Life Stories did affect YouGov’s latest polling, it resulted in just a 1% increase; oh – and the Tories gaining an extra 3%:
Latest Westminster voting intention (2-3 Jun)
Con: 46% (+3 from 27-28 May)
Lab: 30% (+1)
Green: 9% (+1)
Lib Dem: 6% (-2)
SNP: 4% (-1)
Reform UK: 2% (-1)https://t.co/R70ccVkmmh pic.twitter.com/SU4ybxaWN6— YouGov (@YouGov) June 4, 2021
As one Twitter user wryly summed up:
SHOCK NEWS!!!
After Keir Starmer's much-heralded appearance on Piers Morgan's #LifeStories, and the publication of a photo of him as a student looking like the lead singer of Beige Country, an MOR Big Country tribute band, Labour are now 20pts ahead.*
*of the Greens. https://t.co/10SikUocd2
— Frank Owen's Legendary Paintbrush
(@WarmongerHodges) June 4, 2021
And as Stats for Lefties crunched, this poll would turn into the worst election defeat for Labour since 1935:
Voting intention poll:
CON: 46% (+3)
LAB: 30% (+1)
GRN: 9% (+1)
LD: 6% (-1)
SNP: 4% (-1)[Seats]
CON: 384 (+12)
LAB: 184 (-9)
SNP: 50 (-2)
LD: 8 (-1)
GRN: 1 (-)
OTH: 23 (-)Tory majority of 118 seats. Worst Lab result since 1935.
Via @YouGov, 2-3 June (+/- since 27-28 May) pic.twitter.com/C9Tpe3qBAY
— Stats for Lefties (@LeftieStats) June 4, 2021
Every single data point – polls, approval ratings, Best PM polls and election results – is telling us that Keir Starmer is disastrously unpopular. He lost 300+ seats in May!
And yet Starmer's fans continue to insist that everything is absolutely fine!
— Stats for Lefties (@LeftieStats) June 4, 2021
If a prime time TV appearance only musters an extra percentage point for Labour in the polls, then there’s little hope for Starmer. He’d be best off following Boris Johnson’s lead – and do any future media appearances from the inside of a fridge.
Featured image via ITV – YouTube
By Steve Topple
This post was originally published on The Canary.