Corbyn team ‘stunned’ by exit polls on election night
2 min read
The exit poll which correctly predicted a hung Parliament was a surprise to Labour’s top team, it has emerged.
Labour activists were “absolutely buzzing” when the poll results came in
Andrew Murray, one of Jeremy Corbyn’s advisers, who helped write his manifesto speech, said: “There was a tremendous moment of elation when the exit poll was announced because it became apparent that the campaign had achieved the most stunning turnaround in public opinion in seven weeks.”
Labour’s top team had prepped for several different scenarios, with the possibility of forming a Labour government deemed unlikely.
The second best, viewed as almost as unlikely, was a hung parliament. The worst case, based on one of the worst of the polls, was the Conservatives on 380 seats, with Labour dropping to 190.
The scenario the team expected to be dealing with was one in the middle, which put Labour on about 35-36% of the vote.
Andrew Murray dubbed the win a “shared achievement” and was overjoyed at how much the campaign had pulled off: “We had gone from mid 20s in the polls at the start of the campaign to denying the Tories a majority. It was a moment of shared achievement.”
A senior Labour adviser said: “The argument that Corbyn could only appeal to party activists has been shown to be wrong by this campaign. The rallies and meetings across the country go far beyond this.”
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