The Conversation (0)
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Jan 21, 2021
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A former Brexit Party MEP used his own social media poll to question the credibility of polling company YouGov and has been accused of trying to drum up support to end lockdown.
Martin Daubney tweeted that around 80 per cent of respondents to his survey on the platform would vote to end the current Covid-19 restrictions in a referendum.
He said this was “almost the direct opposite of the government/@YouGov polls” and asked “what's the truth?”
Daubney then added he was “not saying Twitter polls are real world” but that he wanted to question YouGov’s polling methodology.
According to a snap poll by Savanta ComRes, 79 per cent of English adults supported the new national lockdown on 5 January, and 62 per cent believed the government reacted too slowly in implementing stricter restrictions to control the spread of coronavirus.
Previous polling conducted by YouGov after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pre-Christmas press briefing also found some 74 per cent were in favour of tier 4 being introduced for parts of England and 67 per cent supported the rule changes for the holiday.
Other users on the social media platform replied to the former editor of Loaded magazine to refute his suggestion.
Not a poll and to even suggest there's confusion about whether your Twitter followers or a YouGov poll is more accu… https://t.co/oFcvQV6jTR— Adam Drummond (@Adam Drummond) 1611068009
@MartinDaubney @YouGov The truth is that a Twitter poll can be made to say anything you like. I've run polls with i… https://t.co/aypuGnGQsv— Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡 (@Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡) 1611067656
Could it be the representative sample of the UK population weighted by voting record, age, gender, social grade and… https://t.co/57cBDfwa4E— Election Maps UK (@Election Maps UK) 1611068429
@MartinDaubney @YouGov A poll is only worth something if you can describe the sample & what it's representative of.… https://t.co/Rg7cErtDiA— Stewart Lewis (@Stewart Lewis) 1611071752
Tricky one. Is it the reputable polling company which is a member of the BPC and abides by its rules including publ… https://t.co/z3uAYuQ9GL— Duncan Hothersall🌹 (@Duncan Hothersall🌹) 1611068145
Well known lockdown sceptic polls his own followers and suggests the result is in some way representative of public… https://t.co/1Wma2Mt9YI— Liam Thorp (@Liam Thorp) 1611083536
YouGov's (actual real) polls reckon 80% of the public support lockdown — if you want to know where the mood in the… https://t.co/lArSluVX3u— Alex Wickham (@Alex Wickham) 1611068457
Johnson announced a new national lockdown on 4 January, which will remain in place until at least the middle of February.