The UK media has not had a good election with some of the hyperbole and hysteria coming not only from the usual candidates such as the tabloid Sun and Mirror, but the once respected broadsheet and dignified Daily Telegraph.
Firstly the DT ran an ‘exclusive’ about a memo claiming to report a conversation between SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and the French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann. Sturgeon was supposed to have said she wanted the Tories to win. Such an accusation if true would harm the SNP irreparably.
She denied it and the Ambassador denied it. The third person supposedly on the conversation and supposed source of the leaked memo was Pierre-Alain Coffinier, the French Consul General.
He confirmed what the others had already told the press and that Sturgeon had not expressed any preference in the meeting.
So how did a memo falsely claiming that she had fall into the hands of a Tory newspaper. It turns out the memo had been written by a civil servant working for a UK government minister, Alastair Carmichael, and supplied to the newspaper. Carmichael even admitted he knew who had written it but wasn’t going to tell far less sack the individual for leaking, fabrication or exhibiting political bias while employed by the civil service.
If the Telegraph was a mere dupe for a dishonest politico then, it cannot claim innocence in the latest quite comical episode.
Some people in the UK vote tactically if their preferred party is not competitive in their constituency. Labour supporters may vote Liberal to stop the Tories winning in a seat and vice versa.
The Telegraph printed a Tactical Voting guide informing voters how to vote if they DIDN’T want Labour to win and you could also learn the best way of keeping the Conservatives out in your seat.
All you had to do was enter your Zip Code and the major party you wished to see defeated, and the software found your constituency and told you the best placed candidate to defeat the party you disliked most.
Except that it didn’t.
If you lived in Scotland, no mater where, no matter which parties were competitive and no matter who you chose, the ‘software’ produced the same result “Anyone but the SNP”.
So if you wanted the best way to ensure the Tories did not win, you should vote “Anyone other than the SNP” even for the Tories.
SNP are challenging Labour in Aberdeen South, but if you asked the Telegraph how best to defeat Labour, you were still told anyone but the SNP. Even Labour presumably.
Want to defeat Labour? Then vote Labour says the Telegraph.
Here is an excerpt from the software code:
“ABERDEEN NORTH”:{mps:[“Mark Oliver”,”Jack Kempster”],parties:[“Nope”,”Nope”],pa_id:3},
“ABERDEEN SOUTH”:{mps:[“Mark Oliver”,”Jack Kempster”],parties:[“Nope”,”Nope”],pa_id:4},
“AIRDRIE AND SHOTTS”:{mps:[“Mark Oliver”,”Jack Kempster”],parties:[“Nope”,”Nope”],pa_id:6},
ALDERSHOT:{mps:[“Gerald Howarth”,”Alan Hilliar”],parties:[“Con”,”Ld”],pa_id:7},”
ALDRIDGE-BROWNHILLS”:{mps:[“Wendy Morton”,”John Fisher”],parties:[“Con”,”Lab”],pa_id:8},
“ALTRINCHAM AND SALE WEST”:{mps:[“Graham Brady”,”James Wright”],parties:[“Con”,”Lab”],pa_id:9},
The top three seats are in Scotland. The bottom three are not. If you look at the bottom 3, differing parties are returned according to who you want to defeat. Looking at the top 3, you just see the word Nope returned whether you wanted to defeat Labour or the Conservatives.
When you type in your zip code and “Nope” is returned, it just defaults to “You should vote for anyone other than the SNP”.The programmers though at least had a sense of humour.
In the part of the code where the candidates’ names are shown for all other constituencies, “Mark Oliver” and “Jack Kempster” are always listed as the candidates for Scottish seats, because the software is never going to recommend an actual candidate or a specific party just to vote for “Anyone other than the SNP”.
Who are “Mark Oliver” and “Jack Kempster”?
Mark Oliver is the Telegraph’s Online Graphics Editor and Jack Kempster works in he paper’s interactive department.
Seven days to go now but the fun may only just be beginning.
More Election Articles:
UK Election: Labour & Conservatives level. What happens if nobody wins?
EK Election – a Guide to the Parties
