I heard via social media* that a Herald on Sunday preferred prime minister poll gave David Shearer 25% (sorry, I can’t find it online). Shearer’s still miles behind John Key, but it is a huge jump from previous preferred PM poll results.

This should not be happening. If the many commenters and bloggers on The Standard and elsewhere are to be believed, Shearer’s leadership dooms Labour to many more years in opposition.

So what’s going on? Is it a rogue poll? Or has someone in Labour somehow rigged the results? But who would do such a thing, and how?

My pick would be Trevor Mallard. Don’t ask me how he did it, but he gets the blame for pretty much everything else and he’s thick-skinned, so let’s just blame Trevor for this result. He won’t mind.

The alternative to the rogue/rigged-poll theory is that a bunch of so-called experts completely misread the mood of the public. The theory goes that they were so focused on poring over David Shearer’s speeches in order to find critical flaws in his political world-view, that they failed to see that most people just don’t give a shit about ideological purity. Shearer’s oratory may at times be less than prosaic, and he may not exude the ruthless efficiency that Helen Clark did as leader, but a bunch of people probably see him as a “good guy” and support him because he’d be a good bloke to have a beer with.

No, that’s clearly a ridiculous theory. The poll was rigged. Damn you to hell, Trevor! You’re not even my favourite Wiggle.