Ed's wacky election stunts stuck with voters, research finds
Wacky election events such as Ed Davey’s visit to a north Shropshire alpaca farm were the most memorable for voters in this year’s election campaign, new research has shown.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Analysis conducted in the immediate aftermath of July’s general election by pollsters YouGov showed the Liberal Democrat leader’s trail of unusual appearances registered most strongly with Britons in the list of memorable stories from the run up to the general election.
Around 37 per cent of people had heard about Sir Ed Davey’s stunts, which included careering down a steep Knighton street on a bicycle, meeting alpacas at Clive Wood Farm near Wem, and unsuccessfully paddle-boarding on Lake Windermere.
Meanwhile, the Tory betting scandal which was thought to have unseated Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams remains the most memorable Conservative election story according to YouGov’s research.
Around 14 per cent of the general public said the betting story, in which Mr Williams was dropped by the party before the election over gambling allegations, was the Conservative news story they heard the most during the campaign.
That was followed on eight per cent by then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave a D-Day commemoration event early to do a TV interview, with the party’s pledges on immigration coming in third on six per cent.
The Labour party’s “safe” campaign was reflected in the survey results, with an overwhelming majority saying no story stood out in the election coverage. Around seven per cent of those surveyed said “taxes under a Labour government” was the issue they’d heard about the most, followed by Kier Starmer’s personal leadership qualities on six per cent.
Meanwhile, separate polling by Ipsos Mori indicated that the new Prime Minister was now as unpopular as he had ever been as Labour leader.
The poll released this weekend showed 46 per cent were now unfavourable towards Starmer, with just 32 per cent favourable.
A total of 55 per cent of people think things in Britain are heading in the wrong direction, up three points from August. This is lower than the final rating recorded under the Conservatives before the General Election of 62 per cent, but higher than the first rating recorded after Labour’s victory of 49 per cent in early July.
Meanwhile, 24 per cent have a favourable opinion of the Conservative Party overall, up three per cent, and 52 per cent unfavourable.
Keiran Pedley, Director of Politics at Ipsos, said: “There are some early warning signs in these numbers for Keir Starmer and Labour. Whilst the next General Election is several years away – and perceptions of Labour remain stronger than perceptions of the Conservative Party – these figures do represent a sharp drop from those recorded in August.
“Moving forward, Labour will want to strike the right balance between setting public expectations about the pace of change whilst maintaining confidence that the change Labour supporters voted for in July is coming.”
