General Election 2019 Stat Checks: The Calm

Polls open on 12th December. It has begun.

The next UK general election will be held on 12th December 2019. During political campaigns, politicians and campaigners may misunderstand or misuse statistics — usually in pursuit of partisan arguments.

Statistics are important in public debate. Accuracy matters.

Throughout this election campaign, I will seek to check as many of these statistical claims as I can. Each claim will be checked, and given a rating with reasoning.

You can register to vote on the GOV.UK website. (Image: GCorner101/Twitter)

Explaining ratings

I will use multiple ratings throughout this article series — to assess statistical claims. Previously, I only needed the first four categories, as I was assessing entries to the Statistic of the Year. Two more categories are added:

• True: the claim accurately presents a statistic (or statistics), correctly described with relevant context.
• Partially true: the statistical claim would be true if reasonably amended, such as eliding between Great Britain and the United Kingdom.
• Needs clarification: the claim is vaguely stated or poorly-worded, and requires greater clarity to properly assess.
• False: The claim either wrongly describes a statistic or has…