General election 2024: The polls suggest Labour’s in line for a supermajority. Is that just what the media wants you to believe?
In just a few days the UK will head to the polls for the 2024 general election where opinion polls have us believing Labour will be ushered into No 10 with a landslide win that will effectively wipe out the Conservative Party.
After more than 14 years in power, few believe the Conservatives will be re-elected on Thursday but the traditional right-leaning Conservative-supporting newspapers are using their precious article space to convince their readers to keep voting Tory.
The likes of The Telegraph, The Times, Daily Mail, Evening Standard and The Sun are using several tactics to encourage their readership to keep backing the Conservatives.
Here’s what they are doing.
Some editorials keep pushing the narrative that if unhappy Conservative voters turn to Reform UK they will split the vote so badly it will mean Labour will end up with a supermajority and all the power.
If Labour wins by a landslide and the opposition is weak it means Labour would have an unbelievable amount of power.
But for the liberal media – and Labour, they see the worries over a supermajority as an attempt to weaken Labour’s win. They think if the right-wing media can scare people about the evils of Reform and the evils of a powerful Labour, their voters will stick with the party. For Labour, they want to get the message out there: Vote Labour no matter what! There are fears of a low turnout with supporters staying at home presuming Labour will claim a victory.
If those voters do turn to Reform UK not only would Labour end up with a supermajority but it could effectively wipe out the Conservatives.
But how true is that?
The Conservatives have had an awful past 5 years and there is a sense of anger in the air. But as the election draws near, the gaps in the polls always start closing in.
There’s a growing number of Tory voters who say they’ll vote Reform instead and I’m sure many will. But there also be a lot of people who worry a vote for Reform will be a waste and stick with what they know.
It is worth noting opinion polls are no longer as important as they once were and polls from newspapers carry less weight than before. Newspapers are becoming more and more irrelevant and by the next general election it’s likely they’ll have even less power.
So, in short – you can’t trust what any of the mainstream newspapers are saying. There is a high chance their polls aren’t a real reflection of public opinion as newspaper opinion polls are heavily skewed to that newspaper’s readership.
So on Thursday, vote with your heart regardless of the fearmongering and threats. Remember you need photo ID to vote.