‘Ban Polls’ Says Tory Election Chief

The man that won the Conservative Party a majority government just over a week ago has called for polling to be banned several weeks before a General Election.

Lynton Crosby, who is credited with the successful scare tactic strategy surrounding a Labour-SNP government, told the Telegraph that a ban on polling should come into force “two or three weeks” before a General Election.

Crosby cited the fact that all polling companies got the results of the UK election incorrect and that they actually influence the results more than they reflect the mood of the country.

He slammed political commentators, singling out the Conservative Party sympathiser Tim Montgomerie. Crosby said: “They say about teachers – those who can do, those who can’t teach. Well I think it’s very unfair – my wife was a teacher and I don’t approve of that. But I do think it’s fair to say in politics – those who can do and those who can’t commentate.”

The polling industry in Britain has been in disarray since the erroneous forecasting of the General Election just over one week ago.

Damian Lyons-Lowe, of the pollster Survation, wrote about how his company had actually come agonisingly close to the result, but “chickened out” from publishing the poll ahead of election day because the results were so “out of line” with the other polling companies.

He wrote on Survation’s blog: “We had flagged that we were conducting this poll to the Daily Mirror as something we might share as an interesting check on our online vs our telephone methodology, but the results seemed so “out of line” with all the polling conducted by ourselves and our peers – what poll commentators would term an “outlier” – that I “chickened out” of publishing the figures – something I’m sure I’ll always regret.”

Mr Crosby told the Telegraph: “The trouble now is that polls have become part of the political process so they’re not an independent measurement that says this is what’s going on, they actually influence what’s going on.

“And I think that’s quite dangerous. I would subscribe to the view there should be a stay on publishing polls publicly for two or three weeks before an election.”