Why Were So Many People Afraid To Admit That They Wanted To Vote Tory?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11591218/Why-were-so-many-people-afraid-to-admit-that-they-wanted-to-vote-Tory.html

/// There is something very ugly going on in our public discourse – and the Left-wing activists (and their media hangers-on) might ask themselves what they think they are accomplishing when they bully and ridicule that vast tranch of the country into being so secretive about their vote. What they have managed to achieve in this election is massive self-delusion. ///

[jim360]

Whatever the reason the Tory support ended up being underestimated. If, as I suspect, it's because people voted Tory in order to avoid a Lab-SNP coalition, though, then it's not clear how the polls can correct for this. Supposing they added a couple of points onto the Tory vote automatically, at the expense of Labour mainly, then it would have changed the prediction to (almost) a Tory majority. And then people wouldn't have had as much reason to worry about a Lab-SNP coalition and might have been less likely to vote Tory, restoring the hung parliament outcome.

The problem is that the polls have become a factor in some people's decision-making at the ballot box. The only way out of that is either to ditch polls altogether or to make sure they are not so widely published -- and certainly not used as ammunition in the campaign itself.

[askyourgran]

I didn't think anyone would be afraid to admit who they vote for. I have voted for the party who I feel is good for the country who tries to tackle the problems sensibly, no gimmicks. Years ago families voted for the same party as their parents. The fathers who worked in heavy industry were usually staunch Labour supporters, merely because their workshops were run by the Unions, who held sway in their daily lives. My dad always voted Labour, but I think he would have turned in his grave at the antics of Miliband. I have felt no compunction of going against his long held beliefs on that score.

[cassa333]

Without reading any of the answers already posted.... One reason is Because they were being called 'Tory scum' and other unsavoury names.

Does it have the same ring if you say Labour scum? Labour scum who, by their wasteful ways, almost bankrupted the country and if honest still can't bring themselves to admit it?

Tory scum who are making Britian a better place to live? Tory scum who encourage people off dependency and into independence.

And of course there is the red bias within the media especially the BBC

[ichkeria]

I was reading about how ICM apply various corrections to their polls. I can't remember now that criteria they applied, but their last poll had Labour leading by 4 points initially, but by the time they had added their corrections they parties were level. I think one lot of pollsters, possibly COMRES, favoured the Tories more. But as I said somewhere else, you don't actually have to be all that far out percentage wise to really affect the number of seats. They got the result badly wrong, but it only takes a small discrepancy or "missing factor" to cast a rather larger "shadow" of inaccuracy

[DaisyNonna]

Aphrodite should have been more careful, step on a rose with bare feet and you might be injured by a thorn. Why didn't she just make posies of her myrtle?

[New Judge]

Casa makes a very good point when mentioning "Tory Scum".

I've heard the term used many times. But I've never heard anybody referred to as "Labour Scum".

[shoota]

Anti Tory protests and 'riots' in London today - allegedly not a word on the news.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/protesters-police-face-downing-street-5670007

[naomi24]

^That link says it all. Wonder no more why Tory voters are ‘shy’.

[zebo]

I'll never forget walking into the school staffroom after the '92 election and quietly saying Phew, that was close, to a colleague and getting a verbal battering from other members of staff. Had I referred to them in similar ways they referred to us there would have been hell to pay. It seemed that during the counts and declarations, it was the left who were loud, rude and disrespectful of the democratic process.

[mikey4444]

I don't accept for one minute that it was only Tories that lied to the Pollsters.
In my own constituency, UKIP Polled 4773, despite the opinion Polls predicting much lower numbers for that Party.

I have been to many "dinner parties" in posh, leafy Surrey, where it would have been easy to pretend that I was a Tory voter. When you are in a room with 11 other people, all crowing about how well their little Rupert's are doing with violin lessons, or their little Hilary's with the ballet, it would have been easy to hide your political preferences. I remember all those wealthy noses wrinkling up when I said that I was from South Wales, and lived on a Council Estate. You would have thought I had brought something nasty in on the sole of my shoes sometimes.

I am sure that it isn't a surprise to anybody on here that I never lied, but perhaps not everybody would have been so honest.

All this talk about "shy" is nonsense. For "shy" substitute "lie". All sorts of people, with all sorts of political allegiances, lie to Pollsters, although not, it would seem to the exact same Pollsters that conducted the Exit Poll.

Funny that isn't it ?

[naomi24]

Mikey, //I don't accept for one minute that it was only Tories that lied to the Pollsters.//

No one has said that. The question is basically why do the Conservatives appear to be so under-represented in the polls? – and the answer has been given. Because if they speak out they are very often met with aggression.

(Your inverted snobbery is showing again).

[Prudie]

Huge chip on view and sweeping statements in your second paragraph mikey - pretty much proves the reason for this thread.

[mikey4444]

I stand by what I said. All sorts of people lie to Pollsters, but why didn't they lie to the Exit Pollsters ? Can anybody answer that question ?

[jomifl]

One of my champagne socialist facebook 'friends' mentioned voters 'defecting' to the tories...

[-Talbot-]

If you have ever gambled on a roulette wheel, you will be happy to accept that it was just the way the voters exited the polling stations.
13 blacks on the trot yesterday, number 11 three times on the bounce ( what are the odds on that?)

I don't believe in this shy Tory voter business.

[naomi24]

Perhaps when asked by a stranger in the street or over the phone, for the reasons given, they prefer to keep their opinions to themselves, whereas someone collecting exit poll data outside a polling station is unlikely to react in an adverse manner. Just a guess.

[naomi24]

jom, I know several who have done that.

[Prudie]

I think it's 2 to the power of 13 on the blacks and 1 in 37 cubed on the 11s.

[-Talbot-]

Ps

Can anyone borrow me a shirt?