MR Loses to Voting in HoC Debate

An MRS-sponsored debate in the House of Commons last night voted against the motion 'Voting, unlike market research, changes nothing'. The motion was proposed by Lord Lipsey, Chair of the Social Market Foundation, who failed to convince the audience that elections had had their day.

Professor Robert Heath, Visiting Professor at Copenhagen Business School and a Fellow of the MRS, seconded Lipsey's motion. In opposition were Professor Michael Thomas, Professor of Marketing at the University of Strathclyde and former President of the MRS, and Ben Marshall, Research Manager at the Electoral Commission.

Between them, they covered a range of topics from focus groups to corrupt governments; advertising to Jean-Jacques Rousseau; Big Brother to the UK election result; and suffragettes to the congestion charge. Heath even treated the audience to a poem and song.

The pro-MR, anti-voting side pointed out that governments alter policies according to the results of focus groups and surveys in between elections. Meanwhile, according to Lipsey: 'We have an electoral system designed to make sure that voting does not matter.' He pointed out that the current UK government was elected on just 36% of the votes cast by the 61% of the population that bothered to vote.

Voting, according to Heath, is 'information-poor' and mono-directional', compared with the information-rich, multidirectional tool of market research that can seek not only opinions but strength of opinion and the reasons behind them.

Trying to prove that voting does change things, Professor Thomas pointed to the recent influential French 'no' vote about the European constitution. Stating that 'market research measures and facilitates change, but voting actually changes things', Marshall reminded the audience that both the Scottish and London Assemblies were established as the result of voting in referenda.

In summing up, Lipsey asked: 'If voting changes anything, why don't people do it?' But, in the end, despite their commitment to the MR cause, most of the audience voted against his motion. Perhaps the last word should go to Professor Heath who pointed out that a vote against the motion could never reveal how the voters feel about the strength of market research - due to the limitations of voting itself.

The Debating Group, which organised the event, has been holding debates in the House of Commons since 1975. The Group's sponsors include the following media and marketing organisations.

• The Chartered Institute of Marketing
• JICREG
• The International Advertising Association
• The Advertising Association
• The Market Research Society
• The Direct Marketing Association
• Publicity Club of London
• Periodical Publishers Association
• Institute of Sales Promotion
• Interactive Advertising Bureau.

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