Westminster insiders say Tories have best media operation

Regular ConHome readers may remember our involvement in creating a new daily poll of political insiders.  The panel is now up and running and collected data all last week.  From Monday the results will appear on PoliticsHome.com.  Before then, however, various blogs and newspapers have been covering the pre-launch results.  We have learnt that the PoliticsHome.com index of 100 political insiders...

• Thinks by 3-to-1 that Boris will be London's next Mayor (within this Times story);
• Expects the next General Election to result in a hung parliament (Coffee House);
• 50% believe that the British political system needs fundamental reform (Guido);
• 55% think that Speaker Martin will be gone in a year (Iain Dale);
• 60% blame Gordon Brown for Labour's difficulties over 42 days, rather than Jacqui Smith, Labour backbenchers or the effectiveness of David Davis (Martin Bright).

And today we learn that the Conservative media and communications team is most effective at communicating its strategic message.  The Daily Telegraph's Three Line Whip reports the finding on p8 but it doesn't have the breakdown of exact results.   The insiders were asked to rate the various party machines on a scale of one to ten where ten equals most effective.  The Conservatives scored an average of 6.2, Downing Street scored 3.8, Labour 3.6 and the LibDems were at the bottom of the pile on 3.4.  Perhaps press releases like the one below caused the LibDems to score so badly...!  (Hat-tip to Guido).

This gives us an opportunity to thank those hard working staff at CCHQ who are always helpful to ConservativeHome - particularly Henry Macrory, one of politics' nicest people and a most effective Westminster operator.  Many thanks guys and we are glad that political insiders recognise your effectiveness.

The PoliticsHomeIndex of insiders will transform understanding of Westminster village opinion.  We'll no longer be dependent upon anecdotal temperature testing, however interesting (Steve Richards found three commentators earlier this week who had nothing but disdain for Nick Clegg) but will be able to test the opinion of at least one hundred journalists, MPs, movement leaders and other Westminster powerbrokers.  There'll be lots more about the Index and PoliticsHome's other goodies on Monday - the site's launch day.

Comments

[Picewicz]

If it means that us proles don't have to pay PA etc for a decent political newswire then it has to be a good thing.

[bluepatriot]

Well done CCHQ!

[Malcolm Dunn]

Very best of luck with this fascinating idea Tim.