Never Mind The Bar Charts

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts saw a return for the Professor of Political Leafleting, the Lady of the Leaflets, Professor Caitlin Milazzo. She's one of the top experts on what election candidates put in their leaflets and why. So just the person to talk with as even more leaflets are headed to people's letterboxes for the general election. Show notes The  Open Elections website ....

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another team-up with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod team. This time we were joined by Bill Revans, leader of the largest elected Lib Dem group in the country , to talk about the start of the general election. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Lib Dem Pod . Theme tune by Hugo Lee ....

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another joint venture with The Lib Dem Pod, taking a look at the 2024 local elections. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The Week in Polls . The Lib Dem Pod . Tribute to Andrew Stunell . Local election results in Preston . The 2024 local election results . Theme tune by  Hugo Lee ....

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 th...

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 John...

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...

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 Bentl...

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 Partie...

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 firs...

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 . Che...

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. Sho...

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....

  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 la...

So wrote John Curtice after the latest record-breaking Parliamentary by-election by the Liberal Democrats. Who better therefore to discuss how happy Liberal Democrats should be after Sarah Dyke's victory than Frome-born political scientist and podcast favourite, Professor Tim Bale? Hear what Tim and I made of all three of the recent Parliamentary by-elections in the latest episode of Never Mind Th...

Florian Foos has worked with eight different political parties in five different countries carrying out field experiments to test what does and doesn't work in election campaigning. So I invited him on Never Mind The Bar Charts to talk about what both his research and that of others reveals.   Show notes How Much GOTV Mail is Too Much? Results from a Large-Scale Field Experiment by Adam Zelitzer a...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features Sam Freedman, talking about his recent excellent article on why apparently obvious policy ideas keep on being talked about, but not getting implemented. What's going on? Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The Policy Paradox: The more obvious an idea is the less likely it will h...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts saw a return to the show for Professor Caitlin Milazzo, one of the county's top experts on political leaflets - what goes into them why and with what effect. This time we discussed her new research into negative campaigning in leaflets. Show notes “Going on the offensive: Negative messaging in British general elections”  by Alan Duggan and Caitlin Mi...

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another tie-up with The Lib Dem Podcast, following the stunning Lib Dem gains in the local elections . I joined councillors John Potter and Richard Kemp, along with new Lib Dem council leader Martin Boffey, to chew over the results. Unfortunately, Lisa Smart was not able to make the show, but she was safely re-elected this month too. Feedback very...

I really enjoyed reading Professor Tim Bale's new book, The Conservative Party After Brexit. So who better to have on the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts to discuss the point of such books, how such an apparently ramshackle party keeps on winning elections, the power of party conference speeches and what Rishi Sunak's politics really are than the man himself? Tim that is, rather than t...

Find out the answer to that... and speculate on what Tim Harford and Matt Forde would be like as MPs with the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts.   Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.   Show notes   Public Preferences for Integrity and Accountability in Politics : the research report we discuss. Ipsos trust data . Alan Renwick on Twitte...

  For the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I'm speaking with Cllr Keith House , leader of Eastleigh Council . The local team has an impressive record of building houses on green fields and (yet also) getting re-elected. How have they managed this combo, and what can other Liberal Democrats learn from it?   Take a listen to find out...   Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast...

Many attempts at reforming the House of Lords have been made. Many attempts have failed. So what can would-be reformers learn from the failures of their predecessors to achieve more? Professor Meg Russell, director of the Constitution Unit at UCL, joined me to share her expertise on this in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. Listeners may wish to enjoy her correcting me on voting sys...

It was a warm welcome back to Professor Tim Bale for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. We revisited the five tests for opposition parties we've discussed before. How have Labour and the Lib Dems been performing against them? Take a listen to find out... Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Our original discussion of five...

I recently appeared on the No Man's Land podcast, which describes itself as a, "pod on politics and centrism, for those stuck between political trenches". But rather than talk about whether or not the Liberal Democrats should aim to be centrist, we talked political polling. Hope you enjoy the conversation, which we recorded before Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister. Feedback very welcome, and do sh...

A nice easy question for me and Callum Robertson to chew over in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. Here's what we made of it... Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Labour NEC member deselected as a councillor . The core vote argument . Michael Crick's Twitter account tracking Parliamentary selection contests. Callum Rob...