Local Election Analysis – Tullow 2019

The six-seat Tullow area was a new creation, but was largely similar to the area covered by the Tullow electoral areas which had existed before 2014.

Six sitting councillors contested – John Pender (FF), John Murphy and Brian O’Donoghue (FG), Willie Paton (LAB), Jim Deane (SF) and Charlie Murphy (IND).

NAME PARTY 1st Count 8th Count ELECTED
John Pender Fianna Fáil 1446 1st Count
Charlie Murphy Independent 1396 1st Count
Brian O’Donoghue Fine Gael 858 4th Count
William Paton Labour 782 4th Count
John Murphy Fine Gael 697 7th Count
Jim Deane Sinn Féin 561 795
John MacDonald Fianna Fáil 430 833 8th Count
Billy Nolan Independent 399
Maria Ansbro Fine Gael 369
Helena Byrne Renua 288

The first count saw the six outgoing Councillors placed take the first six positions with Jim Deane 131 votes ahead of John McDonald (FF). However, that advantage was entirely erased by the third count due to the distribution of Pender’s and Charlie Murphy’s surpluses. MacDonald took only 28% of his party colleague Pender’s surplus, but also took 16% of Murphy’s. Deane failed to take 10% of either.

2019 Tullow Poll-toppers

Continue reading Local Election Analysis – Tullow 2019

The Abortion Referendum – How the vote is breaking down….

The following graphs are based on demographic data taken from 7 opinion polls conducted between January and April 2018 – the Overall average is based on the last 4 opinion polls (conducted in March and April) where the individual demographic figures are weighted to that average.

Overall the Yes vote is at 51%, with the No Vote at 28% and Don’t Knows at 21%. If the Don’t knows split like they did in the Marriage Referendum, there would be a Yes Vote win by 55% to 45% – Dublin Voters (63% Yes), Young Voters (63%), Middle-Class voters (60%) and Labour Voters (65%) being strongly in favour. By Contrast, a majority of Connaught-Ulster voters (54% No), Older Voters (59%), Working-Class voters (51%), Farmers (61%) and Fianna Fáil voters (53%) would vote against the proposal.

ABORTION vote by Region APR 2018

In this graph, it can be seen that among Dublin voters who declare an intention Yes voters outnumber No voters by 3 to 1 – or a lead of 37%. By contrast, in Connaught-Ulster the Yes lead is only 12%.

This divide between Urban and Rural Ireland can be further seen here.

ABORTION vote by Area APR 2018

Yes is at over 50% amongst all parties bar Fianna Fail where the Yes vote enjoys a lead of only 8% – by contrast the Yes Vote enjoys a lead of 29% and 30% amongst Fine Gael and Sinn Féin supporters – who may be polar opposites socially and ideologically but seem to be on common ground on this issue at least.

ABORTION vote by Party APR 2018

According to the polls, the main divide is between those aged under 55 (where Yes enjoys a lead of over 30%) and those over 55% where the Yes and No vote is essentially tied.

ABORTION vote by Age APR 2018

Finally, the Yes vote has a 33% lead amongst Middle-Class voters, but only a 16% lead amongst working-class voters, and is actually behind amongst farmers.

ABORTION vote by Social Grade APR 2018

The Poll Average as of 18th March 2018

The poll average as of 18th March 2018 – and the likely number of seats gained by each party – is as follows :

PARTY VOTE CHANGE SEATS CHANGE
FINE GAEL 33% +7% 61 +11
FIANNA FAIL 27% +3% 51 +2
SINN FEIN 18% +4% 31 +8
LABOUR 6% -1% 5 -2
Other Parties 6% -6% 2 -8
Independents 10% -8% 8 -15

NOTE : “Other Parties” refers to combined votes and seats share for Solidarity-People Before Profit, Green Party, Social Democrats and Renua.

NOTE : This is based on the old constituencies.

Poll Avg SEAT CHANGES 18-3-2018

Continue reading The Poll Average as of 18th March 2018

The Poll Average as of the 21st of January 2018

The poll average as of 21st January 2017 – and the likely number of seats gained by each party – is as follows :

PARTY VOTE CHANGE SEATS CHANGE
FINE GAEL 33% +7% 64 +14
FIANNA FAIL 26% +2% 47 +2
SINN FEIN 17% +3% 28 +5
LABOUR 6% -1% 4 -3
LEFT 3% -2% 5 -5
OTHERS 15% -9% 10 -14

NOTE : “Left” refers to combined votes and seats share for Solidarity-People Before Profit and Independents For Change.

NOTE : This is based on the old constituencies.

Continue reading The Poll Average as of the 21st of January 2018

Analysis of the Poll Average as of 2nd January 2018

The poll average as of 2nd January 2017 – and the likely number of seats gained by each party – is as follows :

PARTY VOTE CHANGE SEATS CHANGE
FINE GAEL 33% +7% 61 +11
FIANNA FAIL 26% +2% 47 +2
SINN FEIN 17% +3% 28 +5
LABOUR 5% -2% 1 -6
LEFT 3% -2% 6 -4
OTHERS 16% -8% 11 -13

NOTE : “Left” refers to combined votes and seats share for Solidarity-People Before Profit and Independents For Change.

Continue reading Analysis of the Poll Average as of 2nd January 2018

Analysis of the Poll Average as of 7th December 2017

The poll average as of 7th December 2017 – and the likely number of seats gained by each party – is as follows :

PARTY VOTE CHANGE SEATS CHANGE
FINE GAEL 33% +7% 61 +11
FIANNA FAIL 26% +2% 47 +2
SINN FEIN 17% +3% 29 +6
LABOUR 5% -2% 1 -6
LEFT 2% -2% 4 -6
OTHERS 17% -8% 16 -7

NOTE : “Left” refers to combined votes and seats share for Solidarity-People Before Profit and Independents For Change.

Continue reading Analysis of the Poll Average as of 7th December 2017

ANALYSIS OF THE POLLS ENDING 31st MAY TO 1st JUNE IN THE UK ELECTION

The overall projection (and seat totals) for the parties in the polls ending between May 29th and June 1st in the UK General Election were as follows :

CONSERVATIVES 43% 337 seats
LABOUR 38% 238 seats
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS 7% 2 seats
UNITED KINGDOM INDEPENDENCE PARTY 5%
SCOTTISH NATIONALIST PARTY 4% 50 seats
PLAID CYMRU 1% 5 seats
GREENS 2%

31st May to 1st June Britain

This poll now includes a Turnout Difference projection which relies on intention to vote data from Opinion Polls now and in 2015. Currently it seems that young (18-34) turnout will rise, while middle-age and older voter turnout will fall. The cumulative effect of these movements is a 1% drop in Conservative vote share against a 1% rise for Labour.

The Conservatives are up 5 points since 2015 and would gain just 7 seats. They would gain particularly amongst older voters (up 14% since 2015), working-class voters and voters in the North, Wales and Scotland. By contrast, their vote amongst younger voters has actually dropped significantly since 2015. Although they are still gaining strongly amongst working-class voters, Labour have now drawn level with them for the first time in the campaign. The Tories would win 131 of the 159 most middle-class constituencies, compared to just 9 of the 139 most working-class constituencies (down from 13 in 2015). They also win 182 of the 220 constituencies with the Oldest age profile (up from 176 in 2013), compared to 19 of the 122 constituencies with the youngest age profile. In fact in the 182 constituencies with the youngest age profile, they lose 5 seats compared to 2015, as against gaining 11 seats in the remaining (older) constituencies.

Labour have massively increased their younger vote (up 20% since 2015), but gains amongst middle-aged and particularly older voters have proved more modest. That said, Labour lead the Conservatives amongst middle-aged voters for the first time in the campaign. They started off the campaign behind The Tories practically everywhere but now lead them in London and the North and are tied with them in Wales – which is a big improvement on the near-complete wipeout there suggested by polls early in the campaign. They are more popular amongst women than with men. Labour would win just 25 of the 159 most middle-class constituencies, compared to 111 of the 139 most working-class constituencies. They win only 23 of the 220 constituencies with the oldest age profile (up from 22 in 2015), compared to 94 of the 122 constituencies with the youngest age profile (up from 87 in 2015). Labour have gained during the campaign particularly from Female voters – The Tories led them nearly 2 to 1 at the start of the campaign, but now Labour have now drawn level with them. Similarly they started the campaign nearly 20 points behind the Tories with working-class voters but are now tied with them.

The Socio-economic profile of Tory and Labour voters is actually quite similar – 37% of Tory voters are working-class, compared to 42% of Labour voters – but the gap does seem to be widening. The real difference is the age-profile – Over half of Tory supporters are over 55, comparely to just over a quarter of Labour supporters, while only one sixth of Tory voters are under 35, while these younger voters account for 40% of Labour voters,

The Liberal Democrats have fallen four points since the start of the campaign, and so are now below their 2015 figure. On this analysis, they would win only two seats, but this doesn’t take into account tactical voting which may yet salvage some seats that might otherwise fall. They fare markedly better amongst middle-class voters (nearly three-quarters of Liberal Democrat voters are middle-class), and the vast majority of Liberal Democrats are Remain voters, due partly to a small influx of Remain voters from other parties, but also because of an exodus of 2015 Liberal Democrat voters who voted LEAVE. There is a considerable flux in the Liberal Democrat voter base, with half of their 2015 voters leaving for either the Tories or Labour, being replaced by other voters coming from those parties. In fact their voter retention has fallen during the campaign – at the outset two-thirds of their previous voters were saying they would stick with the party. This could possibly be a positive sign inasmuch as that this churn it could represent the movements of voters intending to vote tactically.

UKIP entered the campaign with just over half their 2015 vote and now have less than a third of it. The majority of 2015 UKIP voters now say they are going to vote Conservative (though a small minority are now switching to Labour as well). They do best amongst working-class voters, and the vast majority of UKIPers are Leave voters.

The SNP would still retain a majority of the seats in Scotland, even though their vote is down significantly and the Conservatives look set to take several (mainly rural) seats.

The Conservatives been hitherto very successful in retaining their 2015 voters, with 9 out of 10 consistently saying they are sticking with them, but that is now down somewhat to about. In addition over half of 2015 UKIP voters and 1 in 5 2015 Liberal Democrat voters (and 1 in ten 2015 Labour voters) are now intending to vote for the Conservatives. Nearly one-third of 2015 Liberal Democrats are now planning to vote Labour, as indeed are a small but significant number of previous UKIP voters.

At the time of the Brexit Referendum The Tories were virtually tied with UKIP amongst Leave voters – they started this campaign 50 points ahead of them, and have maintained this lead reflecting polling showing that the bulk of 2015 UKIP voters are now intending to vote Conservative. By contrast, The Tories started the campaign again virtually tied with Labour amongst Remain Voters – but have now fallen significantly behind them amongst this cohort.

Download the Report : UK May 31 to June 1

ANALYSIS OF THE POLLS ENDING 26th TO 29th MAY IN THE UK ELECTION

The overall average (and seat totals) for the parties in the polls ending between May 26th and 29th in the UK General Election were as follows :

CONSERVATIVES 45% 360 seats
LABOUR 35% 218 seats
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS 8% 10 seats
UNITED KINGDOM INDEPENDENCE PARTY 5%
SCOTTISH NATIONALIST PARTY 4% 44 seats
PLAID CYMRU 1%
GREENS 2%

26th May to 29th May Britain

The Conservatives are up 7 points since 2015 and would gain 30 seats – however the first polls after the election was called suggested they would gain 125 seats. They would gain particularly amongst older voters (up 14% since 2015), working-class voters and voters in the North and Scotland. By contrast, their vote amongst younger voters has actually dropped slightly since 2015. They were gaining strongly amongst working-class voters, but it does seem that the traditional class cleavage is reasserting itself somewhat – that said the Tories are still 3 points ahead of Labour amongst working-class voters. The Tories would win 126 of the 159 most middle-class constituencies, compared to 24 of the 139 most working-class constituencies (up from 13 in 2015). They also win 194 of the 220 constituencies with the Oldest age profile (up from 176 in 2013), compared to 21 of the 122 constituencies with the youngest age profile. In fact in the 182 constituencies with the youngest age profile, they lose 32 seats compared to 2015, as against gaining 22 seats in the remaining (older) constituencies. Geographically, The Tories lose 6 seats collectively in London and the South and gain 35 seats in the North, Scotland, Wales and the Midlands.

Labour have held onto their younger vote – in fact they have significantly increased it (up 15% since 2015), but have remained largely static amongst middle-aged and older voters. They started off the campaign behind The Tories practically everywhere but now lead them in London and the North and indeed in Wales – which is a big improvement on the near-complete wipeout there suggested by previous polls.They are now significantly more popular amongst women than with men. Labour would win just 25 of the 159 most middle-class constituencies, compared to 108 of the 139 most working-class constituencies. They win only 14 of the 220 constituencies with the oldest age profile (down from 22 in 2015), compared to 92 of the 122 constituencies with the youngest age profile (up from 87 in 2015). Labour have gained during the campaign particularly from Female voters – The Tories led them nearly 2 to 1 at the start of the campaign, but now Labour are only a few points behind. Similarly they started the campaign nearly 20 points behind the Tories with working-class voters but are now virtually tied with them.

The Socio-economic profile of Tory and Labour voters is actually quite similar – 37% of Tory voters are working-class, compared to 43% of Labour voters – but the gap does seem to be widening. The real difference is the age-profile – Over half of Tory supporters are over 55, comparely to just over a quarter of Labour supporters, while only one sixth of Tory voters are under 35, while these younger voters account for 40% of Labour voters,

The Liberal Democrats have fallen three points since the start of the campaign, and so are back at their 2015 figure. Presently, they look like making two net gains, though the line between safety and disaster is thin. They fare markedly better amongst middle-class voters (nearly three-quarters of Liberal Democrat voters are middle-class), and the vast majority of Liberal Democrats are Remain voters, due partly to a small influx of Remain voters from other parties, but also because of an exodus of 2015 Liberal Democrat voters who voted LEAVE. There is a considerable flux in the Liberal Democrat voter base, with nearly half of their 2015 voters leaving for either the Tories or Labour, being replaced by other voters coming from those parties. This could possibly be a positive sign inasmuch as that this churn it could represent the movements of voters intending to vote tactically. 8 of the 10 Liberal Democrats would be in seats that are more middle-class than the National Average.

UKIP entered the campaign with just over half their 2015 vote and now have less than a third of it. The majority of 2015 UKIP voters now say they are going to vote Conservative (though a small minority are now switching to Labour as well). They do best amongst working-class voters, and the vast majority of UKIPers are Leave voters.

The SNP would still retain a majority of the seats in Scotland, even though their vote is down significantly and the Conservatives look set to take 11 (mainly rural) seats.

The Conservatives been hitherto very successful in retaining their 2015 voters, with 9 out of 10 consistently saying they are sticking with them, but that is now down to 6 out of every 7. In addition over half of 2015 UKIP voters and 1 in 6 2015 Liberal Democrat voters (and 1 in ten 2015 Labour voters) are now intending to vote for the Conservatives. Of Particular interest is that, despite the fact that the Conservatives are implementing Brexit, they are managing to hang on to more than 5 out of 6 of their 2015 voters who voted REMAIN in 2016 (source : ICM polls). This compares to the Liberal Democrats only retaining less than half of their Leave Voters.

At the time of the Brexit Referendum The Tories were virtually tied with UKIP amongst Leave voters – they started this campaign 50 points ahead of them, and have strengthened this lead reflecting polling showing that the bulk of 2015 UKIP voters are now intending to vote Conservative. By contrast, The Tories started the campaign again virtually tied with Labour amongst Remain Voters – but have now fallen significantly behind them amongst this cohort.

Download the report here : UK May 26 to May 29

ANALYSIS OF POLLS ENDING 21st TO 25th MAY IN THE UK ELECTION

The overall average (and seat totals) for the parties in the polls ending between May 16th and 20th in the UK General Election were as follows :

CONSERVATIVES 44% 344 seats
LABOUR 36% 225 seats
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS 8% 9 seats
UNITED KINGDOM INDEPENDENCE PARTY 4%
SCOTTISH NATIONALIST PARTY 4% 53 seats
PLAID CYMRU 1% 1 seat
GREENS 2%

21st May to 25th May Britain

The Conservatives are up 6 points since 2015 and would gain 14 seats – however the first polls afterthe election was called suggested they would gain 125 seats. They would gain particularly amongst older voters (up 15% since 2015), working-class voters and voters in Wales and Scotland. By contrast, their vote amongst younger voters has actually dropped slightly since 2015. Their support amongst Remainers has decreased by 5 points during the campaign – their support amongst Leavers is the same. The Tories would win 125 of the 159 most middle-class constituencies, compared to 16 of the 139 most working-class constituencies. They also win 189 of the 220 constituencies with the Oldest age profile, compared to 18 of the 122 constituencies with the youngest age profile. In fact in the 182 constituencies with the youngest age profile, they lose 9 seats compared to 2015, as against gaining 22 seats in the remaining (older) constituencies. Geographically, The Tories lose 10 seats collectively in London, the South and the Midlands and gain 23 seats in the North, Scotland and Midlands.

Labour have held onto their younger vote – in fact they have significantly increased it (up 15% since 2015), but have remained largely static amongst middle-aged and older voters. They started off the campaign behind The Tories practically everywhere but now lead them in London and the North and are tied with them in Wales – which is a big improvement on the near-complete wipeout there suggested by previous polls.They are now significantly more popular amongst women than with men. Labour would win just 25 of the 159 most middle-class constituencies, compared to 105 of the 139 most working-class constituencies. They win only 15 of the 220 constituencies with the oldest age profile, compared to 93 of the 122 constituencies with the youngest age profile. Labour have gained during the campaign particularly from Female voters – The Tories led them nearly 2 to 1 at the start of the campaign, but now Labour are only a few points behind.

The Socio-economic profile of Tory and Labour voters is actually quite similar – 39% of Tory voters are working-class, compared to 42% of Labour voters. This is possibly a reflection of the increasing support Labour is winning from Remain voters. The real difference is the age-profile. Over half of Tory supporters are over 55, comparely to just over a quarter of Labour supporters, while only one sixth of Tory voters are under 35, while these younger voters account for nearly 40% of Labour voters,

The Liberal Democrats have fallen three points since the start of the campaign, and so are back at their 2015 figure. Presently, they look like making one net gain, though the line between safety and disaster is thin. They fare markedly better amongst middle-class voters (nearly three-quarters of Liberal Democrat voters are middle-class), and the vast majority of Liberal Democrats are Remain voters, due partly to a small influx of Remain voters from other parties, but also because of an exodus of 2015 Liberal Democrat voters who voted LEAVE.

UKIP entered the campaign with just over half their 2015 vote and now have less than a third of it. The majority of 2015 UKIP voters now say they are going to vote Conservative. They do best amongst working-class voters, and the vast majority of UKIPers are Leave voters.

The SNP would still retain a huge majority of the seats in Scotland, even though their vote is down somewhat.

The Conservatives been very successful in retaining their 2015 voters, with 9 out of 10 saying there are sticking with them. In addition over half of 2015 UKIP voters and 1 in 6 2015 Liberal Democrat voters (and 1 in ten 2015 Labour voters) are now intending to vote for the Conservatives. Of Particular interest is that, despite the fact that the Conservatives are implementing Brexit, they are managing to hang on to more than 5 out of 6 of their 2015 voters who voted REMAIN in 2016 (source : ICM polls). This compares to Labour only currently retaining 2 out of 3 of their LEAVE voters, and the Liberal Democrats only retaining 1 out of 3 of their Leave Voters.

At the time of the Brexit Referendum The Tories were virtually tied with UKIP amongst Leave voters – they started this campaign 50 points ahead of them, and have strengthened this lead reflecting polling showing that the bulk of 2015 UKIP voters are now intending to vote Conservative. By contrast, The Tories started the campaign again virtually tied with Labour amongst Remain Voters – but have now fallen significantly behind them amongst this cohort.

You can download the report here : UK May 21 to May 25