Opinion Research

Abstract

Politicians have always been keen to know what would attract voters and what would repel them. Armed with such knowledge, they can try to modify their campaigning to maximise its effectiveness. Forty years ago they relied on little more than informed guesswork. Today, systematic opinion research is an important tool of political communication, and a key influence on the content, style and means of delivery of party propaganda.

Several politicians in all parties sampled opinion by talking to as many strangers of all sorts as possible: railway porters, taxi drivers, barbers and news vendors.

David Butler and Anthony King, 1965¹

I’m not talking about packaging soapflakes or breakfast cereal; I’m talking about talking to the British electors in the language they respond to and [that] best communicates to them the favourable face of Labour’s policies. If you don’t want to do that you’re daft.

Memo from Bob Worcester of MORI, Labour’s polling company, to the Labour Party, 1983²