People respond beautifully to a newspaper touting a Blairite as the next Labour leader

The Independent has published the results of an opinion poll on who the next Labour leader should be. The headline claimed “David Miliband most popular choice for next Labour leader”.

But people have been pointing out the poll is misleading. They’ve also argued that Miliband would be a disaster for the Labour Party.

Questionable reporting

People took to Twitter to suggest that the reporting on the poll has been misleading. Journalist Joe Lo questioned the methodology of the poll in his criticism. He also pointed to a poll of Labour members from a week earlier. That poll found no appetite for a Miliband leadership:

In a poll of leadership favourites of Labour members and voters last week by @ESRC, none mentioned David Miliband.

All this latter poll shows is that when reminded David Milliband exists, 10% of public (I’d guess Tory voters) say he should be next leader. https://t.co/RkVw94xLaa
— Joe Lo (@joeloyo) January 13, 2019

Aaron Bastani of Novara Media also criticised the poll’s framing. He highlighted the gulf between 10% of people supporting something, and that being the “most popular” option:

Stat behind the headline:

10% of the public think this. https://t.co/S4VPSghtrB
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) January 13, 2019

And one Twitter user pointed out that, according to the poll, the most popular choice for the next Labour leader was actually ‘don’t know’:

Hilariously misleading headline. "A survey by BMG Research found that while more than a third of people did not know who to pick (36 per cent), of those who did, 10 per cent would opt for the elder Miliband brother"https://t.co/m6RhSYeJFd
— Edmund Griffiths (@EdmundGriffiths) January 13, 2019

The impact of a Miliband leadership

People weren’t only critical of the way the Independent covered the poll. They also pushed back against the idea of a Miliband leadership.

Many people on Twitter argued that Miliband would represent a damaging return to the past:

https://twitter.com/WPMTESE/status/1084392691272765442

Others suggested that those touting Miliband as a potential leader have missed the point on why the party’s become so popular under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership:

It’s easy for (some) people to forget why Corbyn won the Labour leadership. Twice. Easily. There isn’t an obvious alternative. There really isn’t. David Miliband is an absolute non-starter. https://t.co/wz96VZOuuk
— Prof Paul Bernal (@PaulbernalUK) January 13, 2019

And some were very frank in their analysis of the impact Miliband would have on Labour’s membership and fortunes:

Labour membership numbers if David Miliband was leader #WeAreCorbyn #VoteLabour pic.twitter.com/gse5HybzC9
— I am Corbyn 🟨🟥 NIP (@WeAreCorbyn) January 13, 2019

It seems that David Miliband is a little less popular than the Independent has suggested. So he probably won’t want to count any chickens on a leadership bid just yet.

Featured image via World Economic Forum – Wikimedia Commons

Tags: Labour Party