“16% of those who think they are registered aren’t”

In its final Mayoral poll MORI agreed to a suggestion of mine and asked whether those interviewed were actually on the electoral register. They found that only 92% were.

Now a report from the Electoral Commission suggests that the proportion not on the register could be much higher than that. The pollster NOP was commissioned and it found that 16% of people who thought they were on the electoral roll were not.

But the non-registered situation is different in different areas of the capital. “..The study found that every Labour-run, inner-city borough had poor registration figures. In Hackney, 29 per cent of those questioned were eligible to vote but unregistered, in Haringey 24 per cent, Newham and Tower Hamlets 23 per cent, and Lambeth 25 per cent.”

On the basis of the Standard story and not the report itself you can only conclude that this is not good news for Ken. It could also distort the polls.

In the betting there’s been a big move to Boris during the afternoon. He is at 0.45/1 with Ken at 2.2/1.

Mike Smithson