Two weeks ago I referred to the website YouGov which publishes the public's views on famous figures, amongst other things.
This week I've been looking at some of these, particularly with one of the questions in Prime Minister's Questions on 18 June touching on the impeachment of Tony Blair. It was the same day that Peter Hain gave evidence to the Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs into the "on-the-runs" scheme, and also when we were getting news of the deteriorating situation in Iraq and how ISIS are looking to create a caliphate across parts of Iraq and Syria.
So I looked up YouGov opinions on the following political figures:
Tony Blair
Peter Hain
Bashar al-Assad
and not to be outdone, someone else I've covered before, Mr Alastair Campbell.
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The results are quite interesting but don't read too much into them - this article is meant to be lighthearted. I think that people who post opinions would tend to have strong views one way or the other about a public person, and again in my opinion, you'd be more likely to post if you felt strongly negative about a person rather than positive.
RESULTS
OPINION: Really Like Like OK Don't Like Really Don't Like
Tony Blair 241 549 776 1545 3810
Peter Hain 8 103 190 327 227
A Campbell 47 279 511 897 995
Assad 14 39 137 245 1026
If we just take the most extreme views i.e. Really Like and Really Don't Like then we get the following:
TB Really Like - 3.4% Really Don't Like - 55%
PH Really Like - 1% Really Don't Like - 26.5%
AC Really Like - 1.7% Really Don't Like - 36.5%
Assad Really Like - 1% Really Don't Like - 70.2%
Interesting for me to see that Blair was "Really Liked" by a higher percentage figure than any of the others, and less people "Really Like" Peter Hain than either Tony Blair or Alastair Campbell. In fact if you take it to a few decimal places he scored below al-Assad as well. But at least he's nowhere near as disliked as these individuals. Percentage-wise he is really disliked by less than half of those that dislike the ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair.
I find the fact that somewhere in the world there are 241 people who "Really Like" Blair amazing, and even 47 who think similarly of Alastair Campbell. I don't often feel sorry for Peter Hain but for there to be only 8 people who "Really Like" him - well, that's pretty grim . I do hope there is no truth in the rumour that these eight are his wife Elizabeth, two sons, Mam and Dad, Gerry Adams, Councillor David Lewis and of course Peter himself.
Don't write in if you're a statistician to tell me how full of holes all the above is. I know - it's meant to make you have a look yourself at YouGov and just chill out a bit.
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I've picked out a couple of "Really Like" and "Really Don't Like" reviews, reproduced below:
Blair
"On the evidence he had at the time he was right to support the US in overthrowing Sadam who gassed his own people and he was right to intervene in Kosovo and Sierra Leone. He was like a breath of fresh air in Government after a decade of godammed awful Tories and the unspeakable Thatcher. History will redeem Tony Blair. The people that hate him now are largely pacifist Lefties , American haters, or just plain ignorant on the Middle East."
"Such a universally despised figure, who haunts the Labour Party like an evil spirit, or an embarrassing elderly relative. Deluded, fanatical, hypocritical and probably insane."
Hain
"I have always admired Peter Hain since he ran the very successful Anti apartite (sic) campaign in the 1970s. He was a good minister - a very personable and approachable person whose retirement from the shadow cabinet I greeted with sadness."
"He ignored me at a lunch even though I asked about his constituency. When he found out I was actually a very senior and influential guest, he was all over me. Can't stand this type of person."
(posted two weeks ago - I can assure you I have never attended a lunch with Peter Hain)
Campbell
"What a man he his. A lot of people hate him but I personally see him as a very strong and influential man. Speaks his mind and is a great speaker for it. Admire him greatly."
"Alastair Campbell is again suffering from depression and at present, Dr David Kelly is still dead!"
Bashar al-Assad
"He is fighting to save his country, he would have gone long ago if he was not loved."
"Proves the point that a civilising education doesn't necessarily civilise and that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
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Isn't it interesting how people can feel so differently about the same person? I think that these results, unscientific though they are, go to prove that no matter who you are and what you have done, someone, somewhere will still love you!
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PS - I did a quick look at some others I've written about in the past.
Vladimir Putin Really Like - 1.6% Really Don't Like - 41.1%
Denis Macshane Really Like - 1.6% Really Don't Like - 39.4%
Not much difference between these two in terms of the results.
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