Never Mind The Bar Charts

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is not really an episode of the podcast but rather a rerun of an interview I did for the YIMBY Pod with James O'Malley, talking about the problems with secondary legislation - and why they are problems we all should be interested in. Show notes The YIMBY Pod . (It used to be called The Abundance Podcast.) One of my pieces about secondary legislation:...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features the authors of a great new book, Tribal Politics: How Brexit Divided Britain. Sara Hobolt and James Tilley discuss how the Brexit referendum was the trigger for new political identities, identities which have persisted. We also discuss their surprising finding about the role for social media in forging anti-Brexit identities, as well as less...

A special treat for listening of this podcast: a new episode of my other podcast, Political Fictions: "Mark and Cory talk about political TV for the first time, and there’s nowhere better to start than The Thick of It. After rewatching the first series, they talk about which fictional policy proposals ended up becoming reality, why it’s important that focus groups thought Keir Starmer was an eagle...

Exciting news! This month I’m launching Political Fictions, a new podcast with Cory Hazlehurst, from the  Not Enough Champagne podcast. It’s all about TV, film and books featuring politics. Take a listen to our trailer to find out more. You can subscribe to Political Fictions in all the usual places, including on  Spotify ,  Apple Podcasts  and  Amazon Music . You can also follow the podcast via o...

For the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts I talked with Paul Webb about the report "Britain's Party Members" which has new data on who joins political parties in Britain and what they get up to. Are Lib Dems the keenest campaigners? Is the emerging two-bloc pattern of British politics reflected in party membership? We talk about these and many more such illuminating questions, revealing...

Two of the authors of a new book, The British General Election of 2024, joined me for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. Among the topics we discuss are whether Labour's post-election slump has made people too critical of their election campaign, whether the Conservatives could have saved themselves and lessons for the Lib Dems. Show notes The graph we discuss showing public opinion...

I've popped up on a movie podcast, War Movie Theatre with Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Here is what they have to say about the show: "A 1964 film about accidental nuclear war from a legendary director and featuring a German scientist with homicidal ideas? That's right, it's Dr Strangelove… hang on, no, it's Fail Safe. Overshadowed on release because of a lawsuit from a rival film (you can guess w...

This episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features podcast favourite Phil Cowley talking about his new book, The Smallest Room in the House. It is crammed full of fun yet useful insights from political science. Listen to us talk about Simon Cowell, fish and chip shops, riots, the rise of AI, potholes and more. Show notes All the fish and chip shops in the UK . Distribution of passport ownership ....

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts sees a return to the show for Professor Rob Ford. We dive into my favourite political paradox to discuss with him: the long term liberalising trends in British politics and yet the run of wins for the Conservatives and populist right. Who is going to come out on top? Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts sees me discuss with polling expert Steve Akehurst what has happened to Labour's July 2024 vote. We dive into the characteristics of those who voted for Starmer but are now flirting with Farage, as well as ask whether those folk are really the whole story. Show notes Getting to know ‘Reform curious Labour voters’ by Steve Akehurst. What would make La...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features an interview with Emeritus Professor Jonathan Parry, whose new book, Liberalism, explores the history of liberalism as a political idea in Britain.  Parry emphasises that liberalism is best understood through the actions of politicians rather than the abstract theories of political intellectuals. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podc...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts saw me team up with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod team to discuss the local elections. How did they go for the Liberal Democrats and what lessons are there for the party? Show notes Some highlights from the local election results . Lib Dem Pod . Theme tune by Hugo Lee . New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts ....

John Potter of the Lib Dem Pod quizzed me about my first experiences of the House of Lords for our latest joint podcast. Show notes Lib Dem Pod . The Government Chief Whip's Ring Binder . Photograph © House of Lords 2024 / photography by Roger Harris. 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...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another in the occasional series looking back at previous party leaders with Duncan Brack. This time we pick over Jeremy Thorpe's career - securing Britain's place in Europe, leading the Liberal Party to national prominence and then mired in scandal. What to make of it all? Show notes Our previous episode about Jo Grimond - www.markpack.org.uk/161...

Peter Kellner join sme to discuss a new report on what is going wrong with our politics, and the solutions. No surprise then that our conversation focused on populism, its causes and how liberals can defeat it. Show notes Disruptive Delivery: Meeting the Unmet Demand in Politics , with polling from Deltapoll. The Challenge of Affluence: Self-Control and Well-Being in the United States and Britain...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts saw Paula Surridge return to the show, talking about the impact of political values and of perceived competence on recent general elections. We got into some surprising similarities between Tony Blair and Nigel Farage, as well as ways in which Boris Johnson and Gordon Brown were the same. Take a listen to find out how on earth we ended up there. Show...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look at a book that has made me rethink several things I thought I knew about the history of the Liberal Democrats and Liberals before them. It also contains some wonderfully acerbic photo captions and some not terribly kind words about David Lloyd George. It is a book from another David - David Laws - and is a history of Labour - Liberal (De...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look at recent research into the impact of electoral reform on the stability of governments. Does PR mean less stable government? Listen to my discussion with the research's author Dylan Difford to find out. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Strong and Stable: the most politica...

Election campaigns often put significant effort into persuading voters that their candidate(s) could win. But does such campaigning really change people's expectations of who might win? And even if it people's views do change, does being seen as a more likely winner really help you win the election? Or in other words, are all those "winning here" posters and bar charts worth it? The latest episode...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts sees a  return  to the show for Sam Freedman. This time he’s got a new book out, about how our government is broken – and what to do to fix it. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Failed State: Why Nothing Works and How We Fix It by Sam Freedman:  Amazon ,  Waterstones ,  UK Bookshop (af...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts discusses a great new book about the geography of British elections with its two authors, Jamie Furlong and Will Jennings. Why do the Conservatives underperform on Merseyside yet overperform in Lincolnshire, and how much of electoral geography is really about individual campaigners? Take a listen to find out... Show notes Get The Changing Electoral M...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look back to the five criteria for success that Professor Tim Bale set out for opposition leaders and considers how they played out by the end of the 2024 general election. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Our original discussion of five tests for opposition parties . Our  Dec...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another special with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod, looking at all the latest from the election campaign. Show notes The More in Common polling I mention . 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 . For mater...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another special with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod, looking at all the latest from the election campaign with Lib Dem peer Liz Barker and Lib Dem candidate David Chadwick. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The Lib Dem manifesto . The election timetable . David Chadwick's campaign...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another team-up with the Lib Dem podcast, taking a look at the general election, mulling over Nigel Farage 's entrance and hearing about how a Dalek got canvassed. Appearing on the show is Victoria Collins. The constituency she is standing in includes the village of Aldbury, often used in TV and films, including for Doctor Who and The Avengers. Sh...