In praise of Lord Ashcroft – the UK’s leading commissioner of political polling
A ludicrous attack on the UK’s leading funder of polling @lordashcroft by Peter Oborne goo.gl/BTbKw twitter.com/MSmithsonPB/st…
— Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) June 13, 2013
To claim @lordashcroft has a “dangerous monopoly of political information” goes beyond hype telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/… its evidently nonsense
— Sunder Katwala (@sundersays) June 12, 2013
Barmy slightly hysterical attack on @lordashcroft by Peter Oborne. Ashcroft a man who not only created wealth but kept Tory Party afloat
— Stewart Jackson MP (@SJacksonMP) June 12, 2013
When it comes to CON strategy Ashcroft is right & Crosby/Osborne wrong
Ever since Dave/George made the decision to bring in Lynton Crosby to run the GE2015 election campaign the Tory leadership have been at odds with the party’s former deputy chairman and leading funder over many years, Lord Ashcroft.
Quite simply Crosby, and presumably Osborne, have a view on how the Tories should try to win in 2015 while Ashcroft has another. To back his position Ashcroft has commissioned a mass of polling which suggests that the strategy that is being followed is probably not going to work.
Ashcroft has ploughed huge amounts into expensive phone polling and big sample online surveys simply because he is a seeker after knowledge. Very generously he has made the full details of his polling available to others. He’s also been very responsive to points raised by poll watchers like me.
More than anything Ashcroft’s desire is to see a majority CON government elected and he’s used his data to warn, for instance, of the blues going on too much about Europe.
Oborne’s attack is ridiculous.
Mike Smithson
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