UKIP Spin in Barnsley & David Bannerman tries a rebrand

The UKIP candidate: Jane Collins

Much has been made of a poll published in the Mail. LINK. Indeed, UKIP’s spin doctors have been busy telling everyone that the poll proves that support for UKIP is growing. According to the Mail and certain UKIP officials, Ms Collins is on 9% of the vote after you play around with the figures!

So let’s take a closer look at the poll in question.

507 people were contacted by telephone. Not all of those contacted (27%) agreed to answer the questions put to them. The poll states that 4% intend to vote UKIP. That makes just 20 people!

How encouraging! Next stop, Number 10 for our Nigel!

And can we expect the usual crowing if UKIP beats the BNP into fifth place? And there was us thinking that UKIP was there to get the UK of the EU!

From the Mail:

Poll Data Published on 27-Feb-2011:

The raw unweighted results were as follows:
For which of the following candidates are you most likely to vote?

Dan Jarvis (Labour) 34%
James Hockney (Conservative) 5%
Enis Dalton (BNP) 1%
Jane Collins (UKIP) 4%
Dominic Carman (Liberal Democrats) 1%
Another Party 2%
Undecided 17%
Will not vote 9%
Refuse to say 27%

Fieldwork dates: February 24th – February 25th

Interview Method: Telephone.

Population sampled: Adults 18+ registered to vote in Barnsley Central

Sampling Method: Within the parliamentary constituency of Barnsley Central registered voters with were targeted in a balanced way across the wards of Barnsley Central, Darton East, Darton West, Kingstone, Monk Bretton, Old Town, Royston and St Helens.

Sample size: 507

Meanwhile, David Bannerman’s desperate attempts to rebrand himself prove futile.....