Does it really matter what the political polls currently say?

Never Mind The Bar Charts took an unexpected turn when I was discussing the track record of polls closing in previous Parliaments with Professor Will Jennings. One of the most dramatic such examples was with Jeremy Corbyn in 2017... so perhaps he should be the role model for Rishi Sunak as he looks to rescue the Conservatives? Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Have the polls closed in previous Parliaments? What are MRPs and can we trust them? Voting intention by supermarket. Sign up to the newsletter from Will Jennings. Theme tune by Hugo Lee. New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Check out some of this show’s most popular previous episodes. Enjoy the show? Spread the word Share the show’s website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

Something completely different to the usual fare this time: a little while back I picked my five favourite spy novels for the Spybrary podcast. For a variation from the usual Never Mind The Podcasts fare, take a listen to what I picked, and why those in politics so often like spy stories: Anthony Price features, of course. As does (ssssh! former spy) Paddy Ashdown and US President Lyndon B Johnson, subject of perhaps the best non-fiction book and one with a brilliant narrator too. In coincidental related news, I discovered recently that the author of the standard book on the history of the early years of campaigning for proportional representation was a Communist, and possibly a Russian spy. The author is Jennifer Hart and the book is Proportional Representation: Critics of the British Electoral System 1820-1945. Show notes The Spybrary Podcast. The Spybrary Facebook group. Theme tune by Hugo Lee. Photo by Cottonbro Studio on Pexels.com. New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Check out some of this show’s most popular previous episodes. Links to books above are affiliate links. Enjoy the show? Spread the word Share the show’s website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another by-election special with the Lib Dem Pod team, talking about what to make of the latest set of Parliamentary by-elections. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The by-election results. The Lib Dem pre-manifesto. The Lib Dem Pod team on YouTube. Theme tune by Hugo Lee. New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Check out some of this show’s most popular previous episodes. Enjoy the show? Spread the word Share the show’s website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features Southwark councillor Rachel Bentley on what it's like being a councillor, the difference you can make to improve people's lives, the disappointments of Sadiq Khan, life campaigning against Labour and, of course, her love of pointing. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The Bentley Ramp. Rachel Bentley on X/Twitter. Theme tune by Hugo Lee. New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Check out some of this show’s most popular previous episodes. Enjoy the show? Spread the word Share the show’s website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

Professor Kate Dommett is one of the UK’s absolute top rank experts on political campaigning, data and the internet. So who better to have back on Never Mind The Bar Charts to talk about how parties use data and what the next general election might bring? Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Data-Driven Campaigning and Political Parties: Five Advanced Democracies Compared by Katharine Dommett, Glenn Kefford and Simon Kruschinski: available from Amazon, Waterstones and independent bookshops.* My previous scepticism about the impact of Cambridge Analytica. Using a Personality-Profiling Algorithm to Investigate Political Microtargeting: Assessing the Persuasion Effects of Personality-Tailored Ads on Social Media: an academic study showing how targeting people by personality type could work. The small effects of political advertising are small regardless of context, message, sender, or receiver: Evidence from 59 real-time randomized experiments: the limited impact of online advertising. Podcast with Florian Foos on the effects of different campaign tactics. Eitan Hersh on what data US campaigners really use. Ground Wars – Personalized Communications in Political Campaigns by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen: or what canvassers really do when they are on the doorstep. Ground Wars – Personalized Communications in Political Campaigns by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Kate Dommett's previous appearance on this podcast: What really happens at the grassroots when political parties push new ways of campaigning? One of my early experiments with using Zoom for politics and how Pokémon GO was used by some Lib Dems. Kate Dommett and John Curtice talks for the Political Studies Association. Kate Dommett on X/Twitter. Theme tune by Hugo Lee. New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Check out some of this show's most popular previous episodes. * Affiliate links which generate a commission for sales.

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts welcomed back Duncan Brack for another of our reviews of previous party leaders. This time, it’s Charles Kennedy we took a look at. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Greg Hurst’s biography of Charles Kennedy. Charles Kennedy on Have I Got News For You. The 1983 TV report on his first election (second video on the page). My earlier take on lessons from Charles Kennedy’s leadership. Nick Clegg’s tribute to Charles Kennedy following his death. The Lib Dem History Group. Duncan Brack on Twitter. Theme tune by Hugo Lee. New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Check out some of this show’s most popular previous episodes. Enjoy the show? Spread the word Share the show’s website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another special with the Lib Dem Pod team. We talked about a year of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister and lessons from the Mid Bedfordshire by-election. Listen carefully also to spot a little Easter Egg from me... Show notes The Lib Dem Pod Theme tune by Hugo Lee. New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Check out some of this show’s most popular previous episodes. Enjoy the show? Spread the word Follow the show on Twitter. Share the show’s website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

I've been honoured to have many great guests on Never Mind The Bar Charts but wow... this time's guest really blew me away with his moving life story and with the thought of just how exciting it would be to see him on the national political stage. Come take a listen and meet Josh Babarinde from Eastbourne. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The sunniest town in the UK. The kayak tipping incident. Follow Josh Babarinde on X/Twitter or Instagram. Theme tune by Hugo Lee. New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Check out some of this show's most popular previous episodes. Enjoy the show? Spread the word Follow the show on Twitter. Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features Paula Surridge once again, who since last time has been promoted to Professor - congratulations! We talk about what's driving British politics, whether the Conservatives can win next time - and what lessons she sees in the data for the Liberal Democrats. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Some of Paula's previous appearances: on the role of values, the Lib Dem win in Tiverton & Honiton and how Boris Johnson won the 2019 general election. How the polls can be wrong - but why you should still pay attention to them. The British Social Attitudes Survey. The moderate pitch of Mrs Thatcher in 1979. Jonn Elledge on how Labour winning power would change the terms of British politics. What that reference to seven bins was about. The long-term liberalisation of Britain. The British General Election of 2019 by Rob Ford, Tim Bale, Will Jennings and Paula Surridge: Amazon / Waterstones / Bookshop.org.* Paula Surridge on Twitter/X. Theme tune by Hugo Lee. New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Check out some of this show's most popular previous episodes.   * This list includes affiliate links which generate a commission for each sale made. Enjoy the show? Spread the word Follow the show on Twitter. Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.

  It took decades of campaigning for Prohibition campaigners to win in the US, getting alcohol banned in the early twentieth century. Once they'd won, their victory seemed set to last. Yet in less than a decade and a half their victory had been undone and the the idea killed off politically. So can pro-Europeans take heart from drawing parallels between Prohibition and Brexit?   Find out in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts as I discuss this with Professor Ben Ansell who has just written a great piece comparing Prohibition and Brexit.   Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.   Show notes   Ben Ansell's piece, Brexit's 21st Amendment: Can the Rejoin campaign learn anything from the End of Prohibition? Abraham Lincoln on the political value of honey. Plastic bags chaos looms ... Supermarkets are braced for chaos and confusion (the Daily Mail, of course). Polling on Europe. Why Politics Fails by Ben Ansell: Amazon / Waterstones / Bookshop.org * Ben Ansell on Twitter and Threads. Photo by Chris F on Pexels.com. Theme tune by Hugo Lee. New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts. Check out some of this show's most popular previous episodes.   Enjoy the show? Spread the word   Follow the show on Twitter. Share the show's website, www.NeverMindTheBarCharts.com.       * Affiliate links.