News outlets estimate Labour has lost between 0 and 600,000 members

According to some reports, Labour has lost 100,000 members:

This story is not true. The figures are completely made up. pic.twitter.com/fdsl6CWXHn

— Labour Press (@labourpress) January 20, 2019

Or maybe it’s 150,000?

Or possibly they just made it all up?

The suggestion that we have lost large numbers of members in one of today’s papers is totally untrue. As a member of Labours NEC I can say this with absolute certainty. In fact, at the present time we are still growing each week, and each month.

— Jon Trickett MP (@jon_trickett) January 20, 2019

In which case, I guess they’ll have to keep guessing until they get it right.

Guesstimates

Off the Perch has heard from a media insider. According to an unsubstantiated report they gave us, several outlets have agreed to guess the figure until one of them nails it – with the winner getting to look like they did actual journalism.

The Mail stuck with its 100,000 figure, and the Times with 150,000. The Express predicted that every Labour member had left – even the really big ones like Jeremy Corbyn and Charlotte Church.

The Sun took the opposite extreme, and suggested only a handful of members had gone – namely that handful of annoying minor celebrities who make so much noise on Twitter.

The Telegraph took a punt and suggested Labour’s membership has actually increased. The party is pushing for another election, after all. We know that Brits love massive votes; we wouldn’t have had four in the last five years otherwise, right?

The waiting game

Only time will tell what’s happened with Labour’s members. Presumably they’ll just release the figures at the normal time, rather than – you know – when the tabloids throw some numbers out to see what sticks.

Featured image via pxhere / Max Halberstadt – Wikimedia