Managing Public Opinion

How opinion polls and the way they’re covered, can actively distort public opinion, rather than reveal it

Last night’s televised election debate between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak is unlikely to change the course of this election.

The stunted format, in which each leader was given just 45 seconds to respond to each question meant that it produced far more heat than light.

And while Rishi Sunak’s big £2,000 tax lie about Keir Starmer was dutifully featured on the front pages of all the Conservative-supporting newspapers this morning, public trust in politicians in general, and Sunak in particular, means that whatever the Prime Minister says at this stage is unlikely to make a significant difference to the final result.

Despite this fact, shortly after the debate concluded, pollsters YouGov published an opinion poll which suggested that the Prime Minister had somehow ‘won’ the debate.

However, a closer look at this poll and all the other polls published since the debate, reveals a very different picture.