YouGov poll shows 'gamble-gate' is the news story Britons have heard about, despite Tory denial
Gillian Keegan has been rinsed after she claimed the betting scandal engulfing the election campaign “doesn’t cut through” with voters, despite polling showing it’s currently the news story voters have heard about the most.
Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, the Tory minister was sent out with the task of defending the Conservative party amid the escalating gambling saga. Keegan was asked by presenter Sophie Ridge whether the scandal “feeds into some people’s worst feelings about the Conservative party”.
There are now allegations against at least five Conservatives about betting on the date of the general election, whilst BBC Newsnight has reported that up to 15 Conservative Party candidates and officials are being looked at by the Gambling Commission.
The Education Secretary was reminded about the effect of the Partygate scandal under Boris Johnson, which at the time marked the moment Labour started to challenge the Conservatives in the polls for voter support.
Keegan responded to Ridge: “What you see in the sort of Westminster bubble, the sort of journalists, what I’ll hear here, is very different to what you hear everyday out on the doorsteps. A lot of this stuff doesn’t cut through, really what they want to talk about is how you’re going to help their family or their local issues, that is literally what they want to hear about.”
However a YouGov poll taken between 23-24 June found that the betting scandal has reached a new high on its news cut-through tracker, coming out top among Britons as the most influential news story right now.
Among the public, 28% said they have heard most about the Conservative government election betting scandal, making it the news story that has cut through the most with viewers in recent days.
Keegan’s claim that the electorate aren’t bothered so much with political scandals was rinsed online.
One social media said: “They kept saying #partygate wasn’t cutting thru (as did some journalists who should have known better. You know who you are.)
“This has cut thru in its own right AND cos it feeds into the whole #partygate, lost WhatsApp’s, memory lapses, cronyism, PPE scandals, etc etc.”
Someone else commented: “They have been trying to tell us for ages what we think and how we feel. They stopped listening and started telling. And that’s why they face wipeout #Toriesunfittogovern”
Another X user said: “Keegan hasn’t met anyone who is talking about the betting scandal, she needs to get out more.”
(Image credit: Sky News screenshot)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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