According to the DS poll, most thriving media website in the UK.

Says it all really. Where did the over-estimation of his abilities and "fanbase" materialise from? He's lost just about every task he's been involved in, has never been able to generate innovative ideas and got an artificial popularity boost early on for managing to take a tenner off some meat in the butchers.

Lonely DS housewives factor at a guess? Same one which had Phillip (pantsman) pegged as early favourite couple series back. Any sniff of some alpha testosterone.

An ability to control doesn't automatically equate an ability to generate ideas, think out the box, use logic, reason and intelligence, take advantage of other's skills - people like Jim languish in middle-management roles indefinitely. That's the crux. He is just an "everyman".

And he's not even cute!

I'm amazed he has 12.5%, that's much more than I expected.

Every apprentice has its following. Nothing unusual or weird about that. I don't see why Jim can't have a fan base. In spite of his flaws, he does have a lot to offer. He has a great rapport with members of the public, for instance.


Insulting much? I suppose next thing you'll say is that Helen's fan base is full of overgrown men drooling at the idea of being dressed in 1950s school uniform and dominated by Helen; Tom's fan base is full of grandmothers who want to hold his head to their bosoms, and Susan's fan base is full of yellow fever sufferers.

he has done several very noticeable things, negotiating in a couple of early tasks and selling umbrellas for example, that might stick in peoples minds, plus his boardroom jedi skills might persuade some people theres more to him.

The truth is, his own self belief is not matched by his overall performance, a couple of highlights taken into account.

He's very good with people, and can be very manipulative.

The stats:
Helen: 10 wins, 1 loss
Susan: 7 wins, 4 losses
Jim: 5 wins, 6 losses
Tom: 3 wins, 8 losses

But of course those stats are meaningless because being on the winning team doesn't mean you are responsible for the win, just like being on the losing team doesn't mean you're responsible for the loss. In the last four weeks, where there are fewer candidates, Helen was on the winning team for three, Jim was for three, Susan for two and Tom for one.

People may lot like Jim - but methinks he is exactly the sort of person who would thrive in the sort of businesses Lord Sugar specialises in and with the people who work and thrive in those businesses.

PS That's not meant as a compliment necessarily.

It will be a great day for Norn Iron if Jim wins The Apprentice and Darren clarke wins the golf

No, it really doesn't. From what you've said, it says that 12.5% of the voters want Jim to win. I'm not part of the 12.5%, but what you've said still doesn't say much more than that.

Jim has endlessly been beefed up by this forum and the media in general as "the people's winner". But which people exactly?? Only 12.5% of them want him to win, that doesn't stand as a people's champion. I think the reality is, he may be the "people's champion" for the average person who works in a butcher's shop or drives a white van - he represents to them the average bloke on the street. Those with few aspirations beyond working class and enjoying a pint on a Friday evening may relate to Jim, but I don't think he has much much broader appeal beyond that from a professional standpoint.

Erm, I don't mean to de-value your thread, but 12.5% of DS users want Jim to win, we don't know exactly if that's the same amount outside of this website. The viewers stretch far beyond this website.
I could imagine he's not well liked outside either, from maybe Twitter, or on the YF show when they ask some people (usually famous) who've gathered at a particular big event, on their views of the candidates.
I do think he is wildly unpopular though, and the sample on this site only provided part of that reason.