Never Mind The Bar Charts

The best Lib Dem general election campaign since...?

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another special with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod, looking at all the latest from the election campaign with Lib Dem peer Liz Barker and Lib Dem candidate David Chadwick.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
The Lib Dem manifesto.
The election timetable.
David Chadwick's campaign.
How we decide where to ask people to campaign.
Lib Dem Pod.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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Check out some of this show's most popular previous episodes.
For material which promotes the party’s candidates or future candidates, the imprint information is that it is promoted by Mike Dixon on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, both 1 Vincent Square, London, SW1P 2PN.
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A Dalek, The Avengers and other reasons to canvass with Victoria Collins

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another team-up with the Lib Dem podcast, taking a look at the general election, mulling over Nigel Farage's entrance and hearing about how a Dalek got canvassed.
Appearing on the show is Victoria Collins. The constituency she is standing in includes the village of Aldbury, often used in TV and films, including for Doctor Who and The Avengers.
Show notes
Victoria Collins.
Aldbury.
The time Daleks nearly advertised Hamlet Cigars.
Lib Dem Pod.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Check out some of this show's most popular previous episodes.
For material which promotes the party’s candidates or future candidates, the imprint information is that it is promoted by Mike Dixon on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, both 1 Vincent Square, London, SW1P 2PN. For content related specifically to a candidate, it is published and promoted by S. Oliver on behalf of V. Collins.
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What do candidates get up to in their leaflets?

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts saw a return for the Professor of Political Leafleting, the Lady of the Leaflets, Professor Caitlin Milazzo. She's one of the top experts on what election candidates put in their leaflets and why. So just the person to talk with as even more leaflets are headed to people's letterboxes for the general election.
Show notes
The Open Elections website.
How are political leaflets changing (and do they work)? - previous podcast with Caitlin Milazzo.
Negative campaigning in political leaflets: what the evidence says - previous podcast with Caitlin Milazzo.
Perceived Negativity in British General Election Communications by Caitlin Milazzo and John Ryan.
Personal, policy and partisanship: Understanding voter reactions to campaign negativity by Alan Duggan, Caitlin Milazzo, Harry Applestein and John Ryan.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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The general election is on: how's it going?

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another team-up with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod team. This time we were joined by Bill Revans, leader of the largest elected Lib Dem group in the country, to talk about the start of the general election.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Lib Dem Pod.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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Check out some of this show's most popular previous episodes.
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How did the May 2024 elections go for the Lib Dems?

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another joint venture with The Lib Dem Pod, taking a look at the 2024 local elections.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
The Week in Polls.
The Lib Dem Pod.
Tribute to Andrew Stunell.
Local election results in Preston.
The 2024 local election results.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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Can Rishi Sunak save himself by doing a Jeremy Corbyn?

Never Mind The Bar Charts took an unexpected turn when I was discussing the track record of polls closing in previous Parliaments with Professor Will Jennings. One of the most dramatic such examples was with Jeremy Corbyn in 2017... so perhaps he should be the role model for Rishi Sunak as he looks to rescue the Conservatives?
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Have the polls closed in previous Parliaments?
What are MRPs and can we trust them?
Voting intention by supermarket.
Sign up to the newsletter from Will Jennings.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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My five favourite espionage novels

Something completely different to the usual fare this time: a little while back I picked my five favourite spy novels for the Spybrary podcast. For a variation from the usual Never Mind The Podcasts fare, take a listen to what I picked, and why those in politics so often like spy stories:
Anthony Price features, of course. As does (ssssh! former spy) Paddy Ashdown and US President Lyndon B Johnson, subject of perhaps the best non-fiction book and one with a brilliant narrator too.
In coincidental related news, I discovered recently that the author of the standard book on the history of the early years of campaigning for proportional representation was a Communist, and possibly a Russian spy. The author is Jennifer Hart and the book is Proportional Representation: Critics of the British Electoral System 1820-1945.
Show notes
The Spybrary Podcast.
The Spybrary Facebook group.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
Photo by Cottonbro Studio on Pexels.com.
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Links to books above are affiliate links.
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Two more Conservative by-election defeats: what does it all mean?

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another by-election special with the Lib Dem Pod team, talking about what to make of the latest set of Parliamentary by-elections.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
The by-election results.
The Lib Dem pre-manifesto.
The Lib Dem Pod team on YouTube.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
New to listening to podcasts? Here are some tips on how to listen to podcasts.
Check out some of this show’s most popular previous episodes.
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How to improve people's lives: Rachel Bentley on being a councillor

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features Southwark councillor Rachel Bentley on what it's like being a councillor, the difference you can make to improve people's lives, the disappointments of Sadiq Khan, life campaigning against Labour and, of course, her love of pointing.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
The Bentley Ramp.
Rachel Bentley on X/Twitter.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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Check out some of this show’s most popular previous episodes.
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Will it be the TikTok general election … or the Zoom general election?

Professor Kate Dommett is one of the UK’s absolute top rank experts on political campaigning, data and the internet. So who better to have back on Never Mind The Bar Charts to talk about how parties use data and what the next general election might bring?
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Data-Driven Campaigning and Political Parties: Five Advanced Democracies Compared by Katharine Dommett, Glenn Kefford and Simon Kruschinski: available from Amazon, Waterstones and independent bookshops.*
My previous scepticism about the impact of Cambridge Analytica.
Using a Personality-Profiling Algorithm to Investigate Political Microtargeting: Assessing the Persuasion Effects of Personality-Tailored Ads on Social Media: an academic study showing how targeting people by personality type could work.
The small effects of political advertising are small regardless of context, message, sender, or receiver: Evidence from 59 real-time randomized experiments: the limited impact of online advertising.
Podcast with Florian Foos on the effects of different campaign tactics.
Eitan Hersh on what data US campaigners really use.
Ground Wars – Personalized Communications in Political Campaigns by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen: or what canvassers really do when they are on the doorstep.
Ground Wars – Personalized Communications in Political Campaigns by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Kate Dommett's previous appearance on this podcast: What really happens at the grassroots when political parties push new ways of campaigning?
One of my early experiments with using Zoom for politics and how Pokémon GO was used by some Lib Dems.
Kate Dommett and John Curtice talks for the Political Studies Association.
Kate Dommett on X/Twitter.
Theme tune by Hugo Lee.
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* Affiliate links which generate a commission for sales.