Lords Invite Feedback on Polling Issues

In the UK, the House of Lords' recently formed Select Committee on Political Polling and Digital Media has announced a 'public call for evidence' on issues relating to the effects of political polling and digital media on politics.

The committee, which was established at the end of last month, will be looking at whether polls are becoming more or less accurate; why the accuracy of polls differs in different countries; and the impact of polls on politicians, voters and pollsters during elections. Specifically, members will debate the extent to which the publication of voting intention polls affect voters' decisions. Other areas of interest include whether there should be a standard or code of conduct relating to the reporting of opinion polls; other regulation around the polling industry; and what impact the rise of social and digital media has had on the way people interact with opinion polls and their accuracy.

Lord Lipsey (pictured), who is Chairman of the Committee and co-chair of the All Party Statistics Group in Parliament, says the inquiry can only be as good as the evidence it receives, and he invites anyone with an interest or knowledge of opinion polls to submit their views to the committee by 1st September. Full details can be found at: http://goo.gl/B7ELrV .

Commenting on the exercise, Lord Lipsey added: 'We are seeing more opinion polls than ever in recent elections, but their greater frequency has not been matched by greater accuracy. In the last seven general elections, pollsters have got the result wrong three times. We want to get to the bottom of what is going on with polls. We will consider the impact of polls on voters and politicians and their influence on our politics and how we are governed. We will also consider media coverage of polls and polls carried out for interest groups'.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.