Is the polling correct?

Leavers have spent the last 3 years telling us not to believe polls, but now they believe them implicitly because they predict a Johnson majority. Funny old world, isn't it?

They won't read your OP, GGMk3. Too many words in it...

True, MaisieD. I was all set to read it but it went on for too long.
I despair for the future of this country, whoever wins.

I know Maizie. Sad isn't it. I feel we should know about these things.

Perhaps this is the most important bit re the result for Labour.

I am sticking to my prediction of a landslide based on how the numbers improved through the campaign last time.

We can only hope.

We will know the answer on 13 December!

I think people do lie to pollsters and say one thing yet do another in the privacy of the polling station.

It isn't about people lying to pollsters UG, although it was a bit of a read. It's about pollsters misinterpreting the raw figures in the same way they did at the last election.

Polls or no polls the fact remains that the vast majority of people wouldn’t dream of voting for an extreme Leftist party which Labour has become.

That is a fact.

Of course there will be a few gullible folk who will fall for Labour’s idiotic spending proposals but thankfully they are in the minority.

That is your opinion JE - with no reference to any proper figures to back it. If the polls are inaccurate then it is also not true. As this is exactly what happened in the last election then it is totally reasonable to ask the question. If they are making the same mistake it is another lie in favour of the extreme right.

I rather think that calling fellow members "gullible" and suggesting that a party that is not as far to the left as some of, for example, the Nordic countries with their high standard of living just makes you seem even less credible and more "gullible" for swallowing, hook, line, and sinker the lies you have been fed.

Well Jennifer, we both have - because the alternative, with Johnson is absolutely terrifying.

Tories have borrowed 1 trillion in last 9 years- over 100 billion a year. 7.5 times more in 9 years than Labour in all their years in power (33 years in total).

There is only one poll that counts and that is the one on 12th Dec. Prediction /forecast is just that an educated guess and not a statement of fact.

I certainly take polls with a large pinch of salt. As previously stated its the one on 12th December that counts!

Oh dear GGMk3! How much time did you spend/waste on your (wo)mansplaining? It must be hard living in this world of wrong thinking morons!

My Nordic friend got a terrible shock when her Mum had a stroke! Life there was far tougher than she had realised from her holiday visits! The reality was far harsher than here and a huge wake up call.

PS I did read it despite the patronising comments!

Politeness and manners seem to have been swept aside and I wonder if they will reappear after the 12th! I really hope so.

We were polled the other day in Liverpool. We blithely informed the young woman that we (all six of us) would be voting for Boris. It must have been clear to her that we were taking the piss, but she ticked her little boxes so she could ‘get polling done’!

Tooting29 There is only one poll that counts and that is the one on 12th Dec.

I don't agree. The poll on the 12th can be influenced by headlines saying one or other party is ahead. If these are as massively incorrect as it appears they could be then these are basically more lies heaped on the lies we already have.

Perhaps this will one day be called the liars election in honour of Mr Johnson (and a few people of social media).

The polls are only what people say they are going to do. What they actually do is something else altogether. Do you really think that polls themselves affect outcomes? People aren't that daft.

No Jane they are not. A random sample would have to be huge. This is a small sample, which can give you an accurate answer, but needs to properly reflect an accurate cross section.

I never believe polls

That's about as useful as always believing them. You just need to be sure they know what they are doing and are doing it right.

Sample selection is an art that several of the polls I've been involved with don't seem to have mastered. I actually withdrew from them as they are just so easy to fool (if one wanted to). Another issue I disliked was the way my responses were funnelled down particular channels depending on who had commissioned the poll. As a result I ignore polls.
Bookies odds are often worth a look though!

extreme Leftist party which Labour has become.

Many people won't be voting for an extreme Rightist party headed by a big liar.

True. Polls are just part of the story. Opportunities to scaremongery OMG Boris one or the other might get elected. They are of interest to the political parties to assess how the campaigns going and get vote out, or a focus to discuss on the media. I find them interesting but do they influence my vote probably very little.

I think most of the parties now have their own polls carried out. The one referred to in the OP was done for the Observer but it seems to have the same issues as the polls for the papers carried out in the last election.

It's not an 'art' Jane10, it's a science but in this Liar's Election who can believe anything.