Never Mind The Bar Charts

I joined John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod team for a special show looking at why the party cancelled its autumn federal conference in Brighton. We talked about the decision with Federal Conference Committee Chair, Cllr Nick da Costa, Cllr Hannah Kitching and PPC Laura Gordon.  Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Why conference was canc...

Podcast favourite Tim Bale has a new book out about how Brexit happened - both why the referendum was called and then why it was lost. Discussing his book on the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts we get into how the real trigger of Brexit was the Blue Wall, not the Red Wall. Take a listen to find out why... Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may en...

What are Conservative Party members like? Who are they going to pick for party leader? And what does it mean for the Liberal Democrats? Find out in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, where I teamed up again with the Lib Dem Pod and ace expert, Professor Tim Bale. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The Lib Dem Pod . Tim...

How much more of a spring in our step should Liberal Democrats have after the Tiverton and Honiton win, and what are the lessons for the party? After discussing this last week with the Lib Dem Pod team , for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts I invited back an outside expert, political scientist Paula Surridge. Let's see how much cold water Paula has to pour on Lib Dem hopes... Feedba...

I joined the Lib Dem Pod team shortly after the amazing win for Richard Foord in Tiverton & Honiton to discuss how it happened and what it means. See what Sam, Richard, John and I made of the result... Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Richard Foord's amazing win . The wonderful Frank Doran . The Lib Dem Pod - do go have a listen to...

I was really lucky to have Professor Jane Green as my guest for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts as she's co-author of an important new report into British politics: "Red Wall, Red Herring? Economic Insecurity and Voting Intention in Britain". Along the way she politely demolished some of what I've said in the past and provided pointers for what the Liberal Democrats should do in th...

Pollster Keiran Pedley joined me on Never Mind The Bar Charts to discuss what we can learn from the 2022 local elections and how Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems really did. Includes how I would have spun the results for Labour if I'd been in their press team and what Keiran thinks of my enthusiasm for the Liberal Democrat results. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with ot...

I joined John Potter from the Lib Dem Pod podcast, along with Welsh leader Jane Dodds and Scottish campaign maestro Kevin Lang to talk about the 2022 local elections. Here's what we made of the results and what to do next... Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The Lib Dem Pod podcast . Theme tune by Hugo Lee . New to listening to podc...

This month's edition of Never Mind The Bar Charts features my recent appearance on another podcast - the UK in a Changing Europe's Brexit and Beyond podcast, talking about opinion polls and my new book all about them with the ever-excellent Paula Surridge .   Show notes   The Brexit and Beyond podcast , complete with lots of previous excellent episodes to enjoy. Get your own copy of Polling Unpack...

It was a warm welcome back to Professor Tim Bale in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts as we returned to the five tests for an opposition party that Tim discussed before. Now we're in 2022, how are Labour and the Liberal Democrats doing on those tests? Listen on to find out... Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Previous...

Internet advertising does not have the best of reputations. But when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ability to slip adverts telling the truth pass the eyes of Russian regulators makes it a way of battling Putin's disinformation campaigns. So for the the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts I spoke with Rob Blackie, the public front for a network of volunteers who are runni...

  It was great to welcome back Professor Rob Ford for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts and to discuss with him both the long-term trends shaping British politics and how they may or may not be seen off by short term factors, such as a  birthday cake .   Which means we also got into how grim, or not, the future looks for the Conservative Party. Take a listen to find out what we concl...

The most excellent Lib Dem Pod team have just done a show on what 2022 holds for the Liberal Democrats with myself, Lib Dem chief executive Mike Dixon and party leader Ed Davey. So here it is for Never Mind The Bar Charts listeners too, including my biggest mistake since being elected President and what baffles me most about the party... Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others...

To discuss Helen Morgan's stunning victory in the North Shropshire by-election, I welcomed Professor Tim Bale back to Never Mind The Bar Charts. We discussed what happened, its causes and the likely consequences. Here's what we made of it all. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Helen Morgan wins . Alan Wager on tactical voting . Cait...

It was lovely to welcome Paula Surridge back to Never Mind The Bar Charts. She is one of Britain’s experts on how people’s values influence their political and voting choices. She’s also one of the authors of a new book about the 2019 general election so one of the topics we discussed was why Boris Johnson won, before going on to why the Liberal Democrats, er..., didn't. Feedback very welcome, and...

Tactical voting took centre stage in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts as I discussed the thought-provoking pamphlet Breaching the Blue Wall: could tactical voting help England's 'progressive' parties defeat the Conservatives? with one of its authors, Dr. Alan Wager. We focus on politics in England, but much of what we discuss is also applicable more widely too. Feedback very welcome...

It's back to more serious matters in this episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts after last time's board game review - the role of money in British politics. I was delighted to have on the show Professor Justin Fisher, one of the country's leading experts on the topic and someone whose research into grassroots politics makes him a better informed expert than many on what really goes inside political...

Something a little different from the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts: a board game review with Jim Williams. A political board game, of course. It'd be great to hear what you think of this game review. Should Jim and I play more games and talk about them in future episodes? Show notes Get your own copy of 1960: The Making of the President . Eugene Burdick . My cunning advantage over J...

  There’s a new book of political alternative histories out called Prime Minister Priti: And other things that never happened. One of its editors is a Liberal Democrat. So who better to have back on Never Mind The Bar Charts than that editor… Duncan Brack.   Listen to us discuss how Eric Joyce having one drink too many caused Brexit (perhaps), what the appeal is of political counter-factuals, our...

What happens at Lib Dem party conference? What's it like attending one? What are likely to be the big debates at this September's federal conference? What are the hidden gems to look out for? With the 2021 Liberal Democrat Federal Conference coming up and a special registration offer of just £1 for first time conference attendees , I joined Cllr John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod team for a special l...

It was great to have Survation's Damian Lyons Lowe on Never Mind The Bar Charts, fresh off the back of his firm's success in polling the Hartlepool by-election. As well as talking about how he got into political polling and what to watch out for when a surprising poll appears, we discussed whether everyone is just paying too much attention to political polls. Does it really matter what they are cu...

With the a new edition of 101 Ways To Win An Election out, I chatted with co-author Ed Maxfield for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. Roaming across Black Lives Matter, William Wilberforce, Matt Hancock, how the music industry is changing and one of the worst answers given in a political debate, we talked about political campaigning, our favourite chapters from our own book and othe...

  Lib Dems love by-elections. Lib Dems love winning by-elections. And Lib Dems love getting excited after by-elections.   So to help us all calibrate our levels of excitement after Sarah Green’s victory in Chesham and Amersham, it’s great to welcome back to Never Mind The Bar Charts, Paula Surridge, senior lecturer at Bristol University and an expert in how values are driving political choices in...

  The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another special live show with the Lib Dem Pod team. This time we looked at proportional representation with Lib Dem Parliamentarians Wendy Chamberlain and Paul Tyler.   Why is proportional representation (PR) a good thing? Does it matter which version of PR is used? What's the route to securing it for more elections in the UK? How much should t...

We all know about the love Liberal Democrats have of delivering leaflets. So our dream professor of politics would be one who specialises in studying leaflets. Which is why I’m delighted to say that is just who I was speaking to for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, Professor Caitlin Milazzo of Nottingham University. We talked about how political leaflets are changing, the impact th...