… As a pollster I naturally want politicians – and everyone else – to take our figures seriously. We help the public to speak and, we hope, politicians to listen. As democrats, we believe in the importance of the dialogue between voters and those who aspire to govern them. When we do our job properly, our results should improve the quality of that dialogue.
But there is a world of difference between politicians listening hard to voters and abandoning long-held principles. The more dramatic our headline figures, the more important it is to probe attitudes and discover what really concerns voters. CONT.
Peter Kellner, YouGov