Newshub’s word cloud to describe Simon Bridges was a shocker, but UMR’s which is sent to corporate clients is as bad if not worse:
A document drawn up by Labour’s polling company delivers a brutal assessment of the public’s impression of National leader Simon Bridges.
Stuff has obtained a slide presentation which UMR, which has long been used by Labour for its private internal polling, sent to “ten or so” subscribers.
UMR is a private company which undertakes research for a number of clients, but is best known for its long association with Labour.
The 12-page presentation details polling on party popularity, Bridges’ low net favourability and whether the country is on the right or wrong track.
A word cloud, which UMR says was drawn from one-word answers given by a representative group, drawn from a sample size of 1000, gives a highly unflattering glimpse into perceptions of Bridges.
“Untrustworthy” is the largest word on the slide, meaning UMR recorded it as the most common response when members of the public were asked to describe Bridges.
Virtually all of the responses were negative, according to the document.
The document was from last year so it clearly shows that Bridges hasn’t improved one bit.
The UMR document was sent in late November, but uses poll results drawn from October, a period when former National MP Jami-Lee Ross’ attacks on the party were dominating the headlines.
It shows that Bridges’ net favourability – the difference between those who have a positive impression and a negative one – was negative 31 per cent, the lowest of any leader since Jenny Shipley, around the time that National was removed from office in 1999.
If an election were to be held tomorrow, Labour was likely to win the support of 46 per cent, ahead of National’s 37 per cent.
That figure is in sharp contrast to the most recent public poll by Colmar Brunton for TVNZ, which had National on 46 per cent, ahead of Labour on 43 per cent.
But the unusual element of the document is the inclusion of word clouds, for both Bridges and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Terms used for Bridges are almost universally negative, while for Ardern, who has a strong net positive favourability rating, they are almost entirely positive.
UMR chief executive David Talbot said the word cloud tended to only be used “internally”, but the company had decided to include it into a presentation he delivered to clients because the message was “striking”.
You can ignore this if you want, but it shows clearly that nothing has improved since November last year. You can’t blame Bridges’ poor showing on the Chinese virus; it is because he is just useless.
Bridges is dog tucker, but it looks like National’s caucus will again ignore the wishes of the members. If they appoint Muller and Kaye then expect a blood bath at the election.
With either Bridges or Muller at the helm they are heading for electoral oblivion.
Then they will have no choice but to elect Judith Collins as their leader because they’ll have no other options.
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