I’ve just been emailed, and have completed, a YouGov poll asking my thinking about the post of Lib Dem party president, which will be vacant when Simon Hughes stands down after four years in the role this autumn. Here’s a screen-grab:
The poll itself plays a straight bat compared to previous party leadership YouGov polls I’ve filled in, where the questions sometimes seemed designed to lead (not quite ‘push-polling’ but not far short). Assuming this poll wasn’t commissioned by a newspaper – it seems hard to believe the Lib Dem presidency is considered quite important enough for that – the question arises: was it commissioned by one of the two candidates named, Lembit Opik or Ros Scott; or by a possible third candidate looking to assess the likelihood of a successful bid?
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25 Comments
Yes; Ive been a You-Gov member for several years and also received this poll and made a tidy 50p for a few seconds work!
The Presidential vote appears to have gone very quiet, and although Lembit is always in the media these days, I havent seen much mention of his campaign for President compared with all the ‘Im 4 Ros’ stuff…
Perhaps Lembit is behind it in order to see if he has enough support for it to be worth running or whether he is likely to get humiliated.
Well, it’s not me!
Looks like some YouGov members are more valued. I haven’t been asked to do it and I’m sure they know I am a member.
Mind you unusually for a Lib Dem election I am still a floating voter and so my view might not be that useful.
I didn’t get it, but Mat did.
Obviously, I ordered him to vote Ros 😉
I got it too and immediately thought one of the candidates must have commissioned it.
I got it too. 50p yay! They’ve been neglectful of me recently.
Got the poll, earned the easiest 50p ever from YouGov. FWIW I voted Ros mainly on the grounds of her being NotLembit.
Got it too. The first active question was whether I was a member of a political party and if so which (list provided). So having answered as you might expect, have no idea if Tory or UKIP or DUP or whoever members had their own little questions to answer on soem other topic…
Tez Burke, please may I join your “NotLembit” campaign?
I ticked for Ros because a) I think it should be someone that isn’t an MP, and concentrate on doing the job properly, b) she’s NotLembit, and while I like him a fair bit I don’t think he’s right for the Presidency, c) I’ve met her a few times and like both her and her blog and d) she made Mark into The Honourable Lady Valladeres, which amuses me greatly.
Even if another strong not Lembit candidate put themselves forward, I’d likely back her anyway as things stand.
Do we need Ros? Why don’t we just elect NotLembit as President for Life?
I don’t mind who it is so long as it’s not Ros Scott. If pushed I would have to say I favour Lembit.
As a former “sources close to Lembit Öpik” I am almost certain that commissioning a YouGov opinion poll to assess his prospects isn’t the kind of thing Lembit would do.
Has Lembit even really got his campaign going yet?
He is becoming a bit of a celeb….would that be a good thing or not to have him as 2nd most important person in the party?
Plus point for Lembit’s celebrity: the media will pay more attention to him.
Minus point for Lembit’s celebrity: the media will pay more attention to him and IT’S LEMBIT and he’s bound to make a complete arse of himself almost immediately.
He’s our Boris: lovable, but a complete PR disaster. How much are the Tories having to spend on “advisers” to stop Boris fucking up? We haven’t got their budget. Mind you, I would have said the same about Simon Hughes as well, so maybe I’m just too cynical…
I haven’t had the email. I will have to go to the Yougov website to see if it is on offer there.
Ros found the time to do several hours of clerical work for my local council by-election last week!
All round I have found her incredibly energetic and supportive, ever since I first met her when she organised a training day in Eastern region that I was the trainer at about 15 years ago!
You might get some negative stuff with having a celebrity… but generally it works. People vote for celebrities. Sad but true. Boris won because he’s a celebrity, not because he’s actually any good. I know its a sad state for our democracy to be in, but sometimes you have to use a system to change it. Besides, I think its almost Lembit’s turn now isn’t it?
A “source close to Ros” is able to confirm that she isn’t behind the YouGov poll. Worst of all, I haven’t had an invite to take part either! 50p would have been nice…
I wonder if it is an MP testing the water?
If the honourable lady Mark is short of 50p, I can lend it to him. Did well in tips today…
The greatest service to Liberal Democrat members and to the (understandably cynical) British public will be given by Ros Scott. She has the integrity and experience we need, the ability to relate to virtually everyone – and her Presidency won’t be one huge ego trip.
Duncan’s suggestion that it might be an MP testing the water could be the most likely in the circumstances. Especially as there was a question on the survey that asked me to name any Lib Dem figure that came to mind who I would like to see running (if my memory serves me right).
The other possibility is that it’s a gossip magazine assessing Lembit’s future value before signing up a contract for his wedding! Is Lembit the Wayne Rooney of Liberalism?
Seems like a good idea to have a peer, given the mess that is the Commons – and I like Ros, too.