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Author: MikeSmithson

The referendum claims its first casualty – Alex Salmond

The referendum claims its first casualty – Alex Salmond

pic.twitter.com/FQ3EkyeDrY — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 19, 2014 BBC report on Salmond pic.twitter.com/Y4feUFJoeM — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 19, 2014 You could have got 3/1 from Paddy Power on this during the night. In many ways this was the natural conclusion to his fight over the years. Salmond had his brilliant success at the Holyrood elections when the SNP achieved what no other party had ever done before – a majority in the Scottish Parliament. It was that election that…

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After a challenging election the final surveys from Ipsos-MORI, Survation and Panelbase win the polling accuracy race

After a challenging election the final surveys from Ipsos-MORI, Survation and Panelbase win the polling accuracy race

The polling lessons of September 18th As I have been repeatedly saying over the past few weeks the referendum posed a massive challenge for the pollsters. A big aspect, featured in Marf’s carton this morning, were what became known as the “shy Noes” – those who opposed change but were often reluctant in the emotion-charged atmosphere of the election to say so. The other big uncertainty was the record turnout with groups of voters who’d never been to a polling…

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A solid win for NO but what about that “vow” by Cameron, Clegg and Miliband?

A solid win for NO but what about that “vow” by Cameron, Clegg and Miliband?

@MSmithsonPB A shy No in Lenzie East Dinbartonshire pic.twitter.com/kA20O1uvPJ — Dr Bel Brooks-Gordon (@BelindaBG) September 19, 2014 Curtice says that the NO winning margin will be bigger than that predicted by the polls — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 19, 2014 Better Together's Jim Murphy celebrating with a supporter pic.twitter.com/kpxb4hNrxg — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 19, 2014 This front page could come to haunt the three leaders This front page from the Daily Record is set to dominate Westminster politics. It's…

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Scotland decides: the Loch Ness Monster (and Marf) enter the fray

Scotland decides: the Loch Ness Monster (and Marf) enter the fray

But does this benefit NO or YES? Less than three hours to go and all the indications that that the turnout is very large. At this stage there’s nothing to measure it against and it’s hard making a prediction on something which there’s an active betting market. Quite who this benefits most is also hard to say. Whether it is YES getting out the first time voters or NO bringing in the “Shy Noes” or maybe it’s a large slab…

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Possibly not good news for the Scottish separatists: the final two polls to be completed have NO with the largest leads

Possibly not good news for the Scottish separatists: the final two polls to be completed have NO with the largest leads

Final @IpsosMORI phone poll has YES 47 NO 53 This is same as @Survation phone poll where fieldwork finished at 9pm last night — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 18, 2014 @IpsosMORI poll carried out Monday & Tues had 2% NO lead The one completed last night had 6% NO lead. — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 18, 2014 So the last poll is out. The Ipsos-MORI phone survey completed yesterday evening has a 6% lead. That compares with a 2% lead in its poll…

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Good morning Scotland! Will it be different from the polls in the privacy of the polling booth?

Good morning Scotland! Will it be different from the polls in the privacy of the polling booth?

How millions of Scottish voters fill in this form today will determine the future of the UK. pic.twitter.com/ascFqVwoDW — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 18, 2014 It was in Quebec in Oct 1995 when the separatists lost The final polls from the 1995 Quebec referendum when NO won by a fraction of 1% pic.twitter.com/Kx62Ck5uls — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 18, 2014 Two hours before the polling stations open the Betfair exchange makes NO an 82% chance. Could punters be wrong? — Mike…

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Four final polls published, two more to come, and it looks as though NO might have just edged it

Four final polls published, two more to come, and it looks as though NO might have just edged it

#IndyRef YES slips to a 19.2% chance on Betfair after final polls from ICM/Opinium/Survation all report 4% NO leads pic.twitter.com/LcU3wR3Ods — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 17, 2014 Certainly that’s how punters are seeing it Yesterday the other bit of Betfair, the one that operates like a traditional bookie with the firm fixing the odds, announced that it was paying out on NO winning bets. This part of the firm accounts for a very small slice of its business and serious…

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IndyRef – we move into the closing day of the campaign

IndyRef – we move into the closing day of the campaign

Wednesday's Independent front page – "A nation divided against itself" #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers #indref pic.twitter.com/zg36ji6Uoq — Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) September 16, 2014 DAILY MAIL FRONT PAGE: 'The Seriously Nasty Party' #skypapers pic.twitter.com/Qhcp6KL4CE — Sky News (@SkyNews) September 16, 2014