Labour’s Deputy Leader Lucy Powell has also accused the Greens of using 'dodgy bar charts'
The Labour Party has been criticised for sharing a bar chart of a recent poll on social media that omitted the Green Party.
A poll commissioned by Byline Times and carried out by Opinium ahead of tomorrow’s by-election in Gorton and Dernton, showed the Greens tied with Labour at 28%, and Reform at 27%.
Among people who said they would most likely vote on Thursday, Greens had a lead of 30%, with Labour and Reform on 28% each.
Labour missed the Greens off the graphic. They shared the graphic with the caption: “BREAKING: new poll suggests there is just one point between Labour and Reform in Gorton and Denton.
“Every vote will count on Thursday. Back Labour and choose unity over Reform’s division.”
Stats for Lefties called Labour “shameless” for sharing the graphic without including the Greens.
Jeremy Corbyn’s former spokesperson Matt Zarb-Cousin wrote on X: “You missed a bit”.
Labour has also accused the Greens of sharing “dodgy” bar charts.
Lucy Powell recently wrote to Green Party leader Zack Polanski expressing concern about “a number of misleading claims” the Greens have made which she said “may lead to Reform getting in through the back door”.
Powell said to Polanski: “Your bar charts would even make your former Lib Dem colleagues blush.”
Professor Rob Ford, a political scientist at the University of Manchester, recently told FullFact: “Both parties really want to be able to claim the mantle of the main ‘anti-Reform’ party in the seat but the truth is there is no reliable data available, from polling or other sources, which can be used to decisively evidence such a claim.”
An Omnisis poll published at the end of last week had the Greens on 33%, Reform on 29% and Labour on 26%.
Britain Predicts’ forecast for tomorrow’s by-election has the Greens on 31%, Reform on 30% and Labour on 29%.
However, Ben Walker, a New Statesman journalist who runs the forecaster, says the result is “anyone’s guess” because the Greens, Reform UK and Labour are neck and neck.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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