An Interesting Bit of Fluff From You Gov - Public Perceptions of Fictional Characters' Politics

[miss_s_b]

http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/88fhchg0tf/YG-Archives-FictionalCharactersVoting-050412.pdf

So YouGov did a survey on which party people think various fictional characters would vote for. From the little I know, I would suspect most of them are correct, but I want to talk about the one I know is definitely false, and the one I think is probably wrong.

Firstly, Victor Meldrew is definitely a Labour voter. This is canonical, he talks about it in the show, he reads the Daily Mirror onscreen on a regular basis, and in one episode is shown roundly abusing a Tory canvassar, and in another episode castigating a Tory politician in a hospital. So why do the majority of people think of him as a Tory?

There's a definite stereotype effect going on; most of the Tories are characters people don't like, or love to hate, and most of the Labour characters are seen as good fun but a bit thick. The one Lib Dem is the Vicar of Dibley - worthy, does good works and makes people happier, but is ultimately pretty powerless and someone to feel sorry for. So I think people put Victor Meldrew as a Tory because he's so bloody grumpy, and people see him as selfishly grumpy - but he's totally not. He's a tireless crusader against injustice, not just for himself, but for others (see the episode set in the Old People's home), and he has the Labourite's unshakeable conviction that the government ought to sort things out.

The other one that I think is a bit off is the Doctor. The biggest result for him is "wouldn't vote", which is probably correct, because I think the timelord maxim of non interference still has SOME traction on him... But then the next biggest is Green LOL! The Doctor is a scientist. The Greens, despite their hearts being in the right place, are totally wedded to woo. Add to that their occasional authoritarian tendencies and... no, the Doctor is a Lib Dem. I shall stubbornly cling to that belief.

Comments

[burkesworks]

No, the Doctor left the LibDems when he woke up to the fact that Harold Saxon and his cohorts had taken over the party, and as a Doctor I'm sure he worries that the NHS "reforms" may extend to Gallifrey. Now he's a sceptical "don't know".

[miss_s_b]

Fair arguments, which is another reason why I said that "wouldn't vote" is probably right. But he's definitely not green.

[perlmonger]

I thought he'd defected to the Pirate Party?

[burkesworks]

Nah, you're thinking of Jack Harkness.

[andrewhickey.info]

Ken Barlow's not a Tory - he used to be quite a firebrand leftie in his younger days.

As for the Doctor... depends on which Doctor (and what era of time). I could see Pat Troughton's Doctor being quite enthusiastic about the 60s Wilson government, what with the general social liberalism and the White Heat of Technology and giving MBEs to the Beatles and so on. Pertwee's Doctor is definitely a One Nation Tory, but him I *could* see voting Green actually, in that sort of right-wing aristocratic-environmentalist way (think the Goldsmith family and those sort of people). Hartnell's Doctor is a Liberal of the old school. Tom Baker's Doctor is clearly an anarchist, and probably spoiled his ballot or voted for a joke candidate like the Monster Raving Loonies. Davison's agonised for a long time but saw voting as a civic duty, and ended up voting SDP. Colin's Doctor was definitely a Liberal/Lib Dem - I bet if he had a blog it'd be very like Jonathan Calder's, but angrier. Sylvester's Doctor would have been a tactical anti-Tory voter. The McGann Doctor would vote seventeen different ways in different continuities, before getting amnesia and forgetting who he'd voten for. And all the Welsh Series Doctors are New Labour.

[miss_s_b]

I avoid Corrie, so...

I think you're a bit harsh on the Welsh series - Sure, Tennant is New Labour, but I don't think Ecclescake or Smith are.

James points out that McCoy would go back in time many times to make sure everything was in place for people to vote for him ;)

He also says, which I agree with, that Del Boy is an archetypal working class Tory.

[andrewhickey.info]

Eccles is Old Labour, but in the Prescott type of way that's just New Labour with a Northern accent. Smith... actually, he's probably Lib Dem, you're right.

McCoy's Doctor wouldn't want people voting for him - a job like Prime Minister would be nowhere near powerful enough for him. I *could* see him as a Sir Humphrey figure, though, wielding the real power, with just a touch of Francis Urquhart, the Patrician and Peter Mandelson thrown in.

Of course Del Boy's a Tory. Anyone who thinks differently hasn't thought about it for five seconds.

[ggreig.livejournal.com]

Eccleston's SNP, because he'd want another place to have a north!

[magister]

Tom's Dctor - i think it depends on where in his reign you're talking about. Hinchcliffe Tom would have spoiled his ballot paper. Graham Williams Tom would have been a joke candidate. Nathan-Turner Tom would have sulked. And it would have been irrelevant who McCoy's Doctor voted for, as a subsequent Doctor would have spent huge amounts of effort making sure that the right candidate won and left a note telling McCoy about it.

And Troughton would have blown up the polling station.

[magister]

On reflection, while Troughton was blowing up the polling station, Jamie would have said "Look at the size of that one, Doctor!", and the mighty Trout would have responded, "Yes, it is a big one, isn't it?" (Insert Eric Pickles joke here).

[andrewhickey.info]

I've often half-wondered if it's the Smith Doctor who goes back and does all that stuff for McCoy, seems like his style (though of course in The Kingmaker it's Eccleston).

Tom's Doctor in the Williams years would have been a joke candidate *and won*.

[lonemagpie]

Del Boy's an obvious Tory voter- he wants to be a yuppie, frequently quotes Gordon Gecko, etc...

The Doctor - it'd vary according to which incarnation and in which period. But, to be blunt, since he's not a British or EU citizen anyway, he wouldn't be allowed to!

[andrewhickey.info]

Who says he's not a citizen? He must have some sort of nationality and identity for tax and security purposes in the UNIT years. I can imagine him collecting citizenships like postage stamps -- "Oh yes, I'm a citizen of Britain... and of the Second French Republic, the Roman Empire, the Third Galactic Empire, Mondas (rather embarassing that one, rather not talk about it) and the E-Space Confederacy. And a gentleman to boot!"

[miss_s_b]

I dunno, I think he must have had some sort of citizenship thing because he worked for UNIT.

[innerbrat]

Delboy's probably a swing voter. I reckon he consistently votes for "not this bloody lot again," which this year would be voting Labour.

[londonkds]

Seven doesn't vote, he incites revolution.

[gwenhwyfaer]

I fear I'm taking this too seriously, but given the way even the stated party allegiances and commitments have shifted even in the last few years - leaving aside what happens to parties when they get too near power, money and the upper echelons of the Civil Service - it seems a bit daft to talk about party names as though they connote anything at all. I think JMS pretty much sewed up the whole party thing with the Drazi. ("Green!" "Purple!") And I think the Doctor, in any of his incarnations, would have seen right through it. By all means contend that the Doctor's a liberal by nature, but a Lib Dem? I can't see it.

That said, I'm quite sure the Doctor's an anarchist, at least emotionally. A common thread has always been that nobody should have the kind of power he was given by accident of birth, still less that wielded by his species. That kind of thing tends to rub off after a while - and when Ten forgot it, a bullet through someone else's brain reminded him. (There's also a note of power being a huge burden, and one he neither trusts anyone else to carry - especially when they want it! - nor wishes to subject them to suffering.)

Not to mention that the Doctor is the archetypal non-joiner. :)

[gominokouhai]

This comment is bang on.

[lizw]

I think your knowledge of Green policies may be a bit out of date :-) Green policy on "woo" is actually that it should be subjected to a cost-benefit analysis in the same way as conventional medicines, conducted by the same body. In other words, if something performs no better than placebo, the NHS funds it only if we don't have a treatment that's better than placebo, and only if there are no cheaper placebos.

[juggzy]

and he has the Labourite's unshakeable conviction that the government ought to sort things out.

I'd like to take issue with this. That's lazy stereotyping at its worst, and shows a shocking lack of understanding of the philosophy that underlines most of the Labour party.

[miss_s_b]

* shrug *

It comes from many years of talking to Labour members, whose first instinct when something bad happens is to wonder aloud what the government can and should be doing about it.

But please, if you have something more than a bald assertion of opinion as fact to give me, do. I like learning new stuff.

[magister]

Equally. saying that it's lazy stereotyping without giving any reason why might also be described as lazy.

Nice avatar, btw.

[etoile]

Without wanting to get caught up in the merry flame war which appears to be brewing, the comments about Labour supporters did upset me a bit too.

For me, when something bad happens my first instinct (beyond "FLEE!", obviously) is "what can WE do about it?" I think if someone is elected to do a job and is paid by the public purse, it's not too unreasonable to expect them to muck in with everyone else if / when things turn to shit.

Some people might be of the quaint belief that the Parliament Fairy can just wave a magical bit of paper and the world will turn to puppies and rainbows but they'd be an idiot, regardless of which party they're in.

[miss_s_b]

So, let me get this right...

Nobody has a problem with me describing Lib Dems as powerless people to feel sorry for, and nobody has a problem with me describing Tories as grumpy selfish people that nobody likes, but people have an issue with me saying that Labour supporters would like the government to sort everything out? I'm trying not to get too incredulous here, but REALLY?

I shall bear in mind that Labour folks are especially touchy in future and just not talk about them at all. That seems to me to be the safest thing.

[miss_s_b]

Sorry, you ere possibly the wrong person to post that to, I just... I genuinely am a bit flabbergasted by this.