The politics of Greater Manchester were shaken to their very foundations this week with the distribution of shocking new material by the Liberal Democrats in Oldham East. As campaigning gets underway in the wake of Phil Woolas’ ejection from parliament, the “Fib Dems” have performed a complete volte-face from previous policy on flyer production by delivering a leaflet with a seemingly accurate bar graph.
The complete absence of wonky bars, shifty statistics and other trickery has left politicos dumbfounded. One Labour activist told us:
“What is politics coming to when the Lib Dems are producing accurate bar graphs? We’re simply stunned.”
The transformation of the Lib Dems continues apace!
UPDATE: As numerous people have pointed out, the sneaky omission of the Conservatives’ total of 11,773 makes in this three-way marginal perhaps less accurate than our source suggests. The Tories are only 5.2% behind their Coalition colleagues.
10 Comments
Be sure to come back tomorrow as we further trivialize and excuse Woolas’ casual racism and stoking of racial tensions in Oldham.
Whatever next…………. signing student union pledge cards, and fulfilling a promise?
How is that an accurate bar chart? There is a kinda true lie where the not inconsiderable Tory column representing 11,500 votes (or whatever) should be. It’s a three horse race. I have a picture somewhere of Elwyn, with two horses as I recall, bigging up his crumpled out in the country (and at the time mostly out OF the country missing council meetings) ee-ba-gum credentials.
To even things up, they’ve just produced a spectacularly dodgy graph in St Albans.
Chris, there was nothing casual about Woolas’s racism. It’s been cold and calculating over the years.
I love it when the third party is about 1 vote behind the second, but the second party still puts out a leaflet saying “The Third Party CANNOT win here”
Well, of course a left-wing blog cannot cope with an honest statement by a party that it used to think was left-wing.
What is the world coming to?
An honest left-winger?
Uncle Joe (and GB Shaw) will turn in his grave
So the Labour Party’s never used statistics misleadingly? This is the oldest trick in the marketers book and used by everyone from Greenpeace to BP, including all the political parties.
Yes, it is misleading, and, in the broadest sense*, immoral, but I would argue it’s hardly on a par with the crimes for which Phil Woolas was charged and found guilty. If you genuinely think this will bring down the LibDems in the up-coming by-election I’m afraid to say you’re likely to be sorely disappointed.
*I say “in the broadest sense” because, as dissembling goes, this is so easy to spot as to make it actually quite pathetic and laughable.
Well if they issue a poster saying LABOUR -THE RACIST PARTY! that would be accurate for that constituency after Woolas’s disgraceful flyer!
That will stick
At the General Election, the LIbDems in Sedgemoor published a totally misleading flyer as to their position in the votes league, when challenged they produced some idiotic interpretaion of the true position – based upon local ward elections. But Cameron and Clegg deserve each other a pair of prats!
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NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u
RT @psbook: NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u
RT @psbook: NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u
Shock as Lib Dems produce leaflet with accurate bar graph! RT @psbook:->Lib Dems distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u
RT @psbook: NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u
Lol! “@psbook: NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u”
RT @psbook: NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u
Bloody hell >> RT @psbook: NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u
RT @Dave_Plummer: Bloody hell >> RT @psbook: NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u
RT @psbook: NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u
RT @psbook: NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u <lol they don't even like actuate charts
RT @dazmando: RT @psbook: NEW –> Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham http://bit.ly/aYmQ9u <lol they don't eve …
Shock as Lib Dems deliver leaflets with "accurate" bar charts in Oldham – http://bit.ly/awIRyP
LibDem campaigns staff to be expelled from Barchart Producers Union http://bit.ly/awIRyP
Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham | Political Scrapbook
http://safe.mn/1zgG
Liberal Democrats distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham …: The politics of Greater Manchester were shaken to t… http://bit.ly/8X7EPw
http://politicalscrapbook.net/2010/11/lib-dem-oldham-bar-graph/
[...] Political Scrapbook pointed out last night that the dodgy bar charts have returned too! [...]
Liberal <b>Democrats</b> distribute shocking leaflet in Oldham <b>…</b> http://bit.ly/bk4mWH
Glad to see @psbook http://tinyurl.com/37z3zj9 reinforcing what Keir said about #fibdem barcharts http://tinyurl.com/2ugfugw
[...] More here [...]