On politics and polls

From ‘Lessons from the Campaign Trail’

Deborah Mattinson, founding director of Britain Thinks and former pollster to ex-PM Gordon Brown, said that polling was at the heart of political campaigns, with good politicians taking account of what polls are showing.

However, she warned that polls could be addictive – leading to politicians being driven by polls and coming out with policies driven by polls.

“Good politicians will keep a firm focus on strategy and use polls to check on what is working,” said Mattinson. “But politics is deeply personal, where the politician himself is being researched, so you can understand how addictive this could be.”