This is the thirty-fifth in a series of posts that report by Dr Robert Ford, Dr Will Jennings and Dr Mark Pickup on the state of the parties as measured by opinion polls. By pooling together all the available polling evidence the impact of the random variation each individual survey inevitably produces can be reduced. Most of the short […]
The prospects for a dramatically more representative Parliament post 2015 are bleak
The next election is an unknown quantity, with pundits and pollsters both divided on the likely outcome. However one thing is becoming increasingly clear: there is unlikely to be a large-scale move towards a realignment in the House of Commons, with party selectorates continuing to exert influence which amounts to a continuation of a white, […]
How effective is social media in getting people to the polls?
The question of whether Web 2.0 technologies work in ‘getting out the vote’ is one that remains the subject of some debate. Professor Rachel Gibson, who is leading research into the impact on the electorate, suggests that while online has its place, traditional methods still remain powerfully persuasive. This post is an adapted version of […]
Females to the fore in reshuffle – but women’s policy input may remain limited
As expected, David Cameron has boosted the number of women in his Government. But this strategy is problematic, argue Professors Claire Annesley and Francesca Gains, and may not address the lack of women’s policy input in decision making. Earlier this spring Andy Coulson, David Cameron’s former spin doctor, suggested that ‘Sam Cam’ was the Conservatives’ ‘secret […]