Wednesday 5 May 2010

Telegraph's Gaga Swingometer

Someone please tell me I'm wrong, stupid or crazy (or all of the above, if it makes you feel better), but isn't this swingometer belonging to the Daily Telegraph broken? It says a 20% swing from Labour to the Tories, with the Tories gaining 52% of the vote, would result in a 69-seat majority for Nick Clegg! And he'd only have to win 18% of the vote to do it, according to the hatstand Telegraph software. So hang on just a second, let me get this straight...

...that would mean that the Tories can't win whatever happens and under any circumstances, doesn't it? Does the DT know something we don't? Call me paranoid, but rather than trust the Telegraph's gaga swingometer, I think I'd demand a recount. Clegg gets 356 seats with 18% of the vote. I know the system's constituency centred and therefore can appear imbalanced, but please. Someone's algorithm's gone off the reservation.

Don't take my word for it. Try it out for yourself. Have I gone wrong somewhere with this highly sophisticated flash gimmick for kids? Or is it just broken?

++Update++
They fixed it (as in mended it). How dull. But what if they're all as buggy as this one? Can we really trust any of them? They've had years to develop this stuff so it's not exactly on the hoof. Anyway, we'll see in about 48 hours or so I suppose.

2 comments:

  1. It's not mended here!

    I think there's a web programmer out there looking for a new job.

    I could do better than this! (Which is fair enough, as I've got 20 years experience in IT!)

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  2. It would have been pretty cool if you'd done your own Tony. You'd have made a better fist of it than this thing with that amount of experience.

    Mind you, they're all pretty well much of a muchness since they all rely on a uniform swing for their outcomes, something which has proven track record - of being completely wrong.

    But this one definitely wins the prize for sheer unhinged lunacy.

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