Tuesday 19 July 2016

Performance Figures in the Referendum


Les May
IN an article in yesterday's “i” Angela Eagle showed where she gets her information about Jeremy Corbyn.  It's the media.  Referring to Corbyn's ability to 'hold Boris Johnson's feet to the fire', amongst other things, she wrote 'The tepid words and lip service he paid to the Remain campaign showed this past month.' 

According to the media it's received wisdom that Corbyn's performance in the referendum was poor.  And Angela Eagle has swallowed that story without bothering to check the facts. 

According to an analysis of media coverage by Loughborough University for the period 6 May to 22 June, Corbyn scored 123 media appearances.  Eagle scored 15, one less than Angela Merkel who is Chancellor of Germany!  Alan Johnson who was supposed to be running the Labour party's Referendum campaign scored slightly better with 19. 

So how did Corbyn do in mobilising the Labour vote for Remain? You can check out the exact figures on the link below, but in round figures, 40% of the people who voted 'Remain' had voted Labour in the 2015 election and 40% of those who voted 'Leave' had voted Conservative.  Put another way 60% of Labour voters supported 'Remain' and 60% of Conservative voters supported 'Leave'. 

Dumping the blame for Brexit on a few northern towns where Labour had performed well in past elections and ignoring the vast swathes of the country which were solidly Conservative in the election and solidly for 'Leave' in the referendum, won't wash.  Check it out on the appropriate maps if you doubt it. 

The witless bunch of plotters who have tried to launch a coup against Corbyn  missed a glorious opportunity to dump the responsibility for the vote to leave the EU fairly and squarely where it belongs on David Cameron and his Tory party.   

Had they pointed out how well Corbyn had mobilised the Labour vote for Remain whilst David Cameron had pointedly failed to do so, it would have been difficult for anyone in the media to argue differently because that is what the facts point to.  On this matter Corbyn showed far more leadership than Cameron whose troops ignored his pleas. 

Angela Eagles' leadership style would certainly be different from Corbyn's.  We'd be back to a world where Labour's policies would be determined by what suited the media. 

Incidentally, Angela just what did that sentence you mangled actually mean?
 


 


 


 


 


 


 

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