Editorial - What the Polls say about the British Voting Public (15/10/07)

In a matter of a week, Gordon Brown's fortunes with the British public has so dramatically changed according to the Opinion Polls, especially those conducted by You Gov, that he is presently trailing the Tories by 7 points and if an election is called today, the Labour party will lose by as much as a 7% deficit.

Really?! Forgive my complete bafflement because just a week ago Gordon Brown was expected to win by as much as 14% of votes cast! I sincerely do not believe polls mean anything but a measure of public or is it private perception. Human reasoning and decision making is surely not that erratic. Or is it?

Is it possible that the British voting public can be so swayed by electoral promises of inheritance tax, emphasis on 'promises', and conference speeches without a reference to written material by David Cameron, to rise as one man and say damn Gordon Brown and Up up David Cameron.

Despite my unbelief in the reliability of these polls, they might just be true. If a voting public has to choose between two parties that are so similar in almost every way and that is from policies to leadership, why wont they switch in a matter of weeks. If they are so similar that they can actually share party members between themselves in a matter of weeks, similar to the polls; then why not poll results.

Mark my words, most British voters will not vote if an election is called unless something dramatic happens. The interesting thing maybe that all those that where sampled for the 'great' poll results will stay at home on election day.