The 'so what?' factor

Posted on: 08 March 2010

Two big truths have emerged so far from YouGov’s daily (well, five a week) polls. The first is that the contest between Labour and Conservative has narrowed in recent weeks. In six polls we conducted between Christmas and mid-February, every survey put the Conservatives on 40% +/- 2, and Labo… Read Full Article …

Tories slip back in key marginals – but remain on course to be largest party

Posted on: 04 March 2010

The latest YouGov / Channel 4 News poll contains both good news and bad news for David Cameron. The good news is that the swing from Labour to Conservative is higher in the key Labour marginals than in the rest of Britain. The bad news is that the swing is lower than in previous polls in this serie… Read Full Article …

Could Labour win after all?

Posted on: 01 March 2010

YouGov’s latest poll for the Sunday Times has caused a stir. It shows the Conservatives just 2 points ahead of Labour; given the bias in Britain’s political geography this would leave Labour with more seats than the Tories – even if the Tories do secure a bigger swing in Labour mar… Read Full Article …

Stay safe during the election period

Posted on: 26 February 2010

The bombardment has started. Already the air is thick with election claims, insults, polls and analyses. Within weeks the noise will grow yet more intense, as the campaign proper gets under way. If you wish to protect yourself from the more dubious assertions, look no further. Here are seven pillars… Read Full Article …

YouGov launches daily polling

Posted on: 19 February 2010

Imagine watching a closely-fought Grand National on a wonky TV. Instead of seeing the horses move second by second, all you get are freeze-frame images every few hundred yards. You miss half the drama – the moment when one horse struggles at Bechers Brook, or another makes up ground on the fla… Read Full Article …

The wages of spin

Posted on: 11 January 2010

“Things can only get better”, sang enthusiastic Labour activists on the night of the party’s landslide victory back in 1997. According to ministers and, indeed, official statistics, things mostly have got better. But that’s not the verdict of the jury that counts: the voters… Read Full Article …

Get Real, Labour optimists

Posted on: 04 January 2010

In recent weeks leading, Labour optimists have sensed that the coming election need not be a lost cause after all. Are they right? Their argument goes like this: “The Conservatives’ poll lead has been shrinking. They need an 11-point lead to secure an overall majority; some recent polls… Read Full Article …

Climate change is low priority for most Britons

Posted on: 14 December 2009

YouGov has conducted a detailed survey, for the Left Foot Forward website, on British attitudes to climate change, as world leaders prepared to go to Copenhagen for the final, crucial days of the climate change summit. Our results suggest a mounting reluctance for Britain to take tough, immediate ac… Read Full Article …

Support slumps for Britain’s role in Afghanistan

Posted on: 09 November 2009

Two YouGov polls show that public support for Britain’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan has declined sharply. For Sky News we repeated two questions asked in August, while for Channel 4 News we repeated two questions first asked a fortnight earlier. Both show the same trends. On October… Read Full Article …

YouGov enters election 'close' period

Posted on: 27 October 2009

There have been reports in parts of the blogosphere that certain YouGov members have been attempting to recruit BNP members to the YouGov panel, in order to influence the results of polls and generate revenue for the BNP. Here is YouGov’s response to these reports. YouGov actively recruits th… Read Full Article …