Never Mind The Bar Charts

What really happens at the grassroots when political parties push new ways of campaigning?

What impact is digital campaigning having on politics, and is it for the better or the worse? That's what I discuss in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts with Kate Dommett, Senior Lecturer in the Public Understanding of Politics at the University of Sheffield. We started off with her research into how new ways of digital campaigning do - or don't - take root at the political grassroots of parties.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Katharine Dommett, Luke Temple and Patrick Seyd, "Dynamics of Intra-Party Organisation in the Digital Age: A Grassroots Analysis of Digital Adoption", Parliamentary Affairs.
The relative failure of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign: a critique of my talk, the original talk and what the electoral data shows.
Report from the House of Lords Committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies.
Bad News has a section on filter bubbles.
Was the impact of Cambridge Analytica over-hyped?
Social Media and Politics podcast.
Exponential View podcast.
Government versus Robots podcast.
Retooling Politics: How Digital Media Are Shaping Democracy by Andreas Jungherr, Gonzalo Rivero and Daniel Gayo-Avello: Waterstones / Amazon.
Kate Dommett on Twitter.
Music by Hugo Lee.
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Saving the party from disaster: lessons from Jo Grimond for the Liberal Democrats

I've tried something a little different for this episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts: taking a look at the career of a previous party leader to see the lessons for the current Liberal Democrats.
I picked Jo Grimond, who saved the Liberal Party from disastrous election results and had a plan for a realignment on the left of British politics. You might be able to spot some parallels there...
No surprise that for my guest, I'm joined by the closest thing the party has to an official historian, Duncan Brack.
Hope you enjoy the show and do let us know what you think of it; would you like more shows looking at the lessons from other party leaders?
Show notes
Mark Egan’s book Coming into Focus: The Transformation of the Liberal Party 1945-64.
The Orpington by-election.
Jo Grimond campaigning for Britain to join the European Economic Community (EEC).
Why I am a Liberal Democrat, edited by Duncan Brack: Waterstones / Amazon.
Great Liberal Speeches, edited by Duncan Brack and Robert Ingham: Waterstones / Amazon.
Liberal Lion: Jo Grimond, A Political Life by Peter Barberis: Waterstones / Amazon.
Jo Grimond: Towards the Sound of Gunfire by Michael McManus: Amazon.
Peace, Reform and Liberation: A History of Liberal Politics in Britain 1679-2011, compiled by Robert Ingham and Duncan Brack.
The Liberal Democrat History Group's pieces on Jo Grimond.
Duncan Brack on Twitter.
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What we can learn from Republicans campaigning against President Donald Trump

Laura Shields and Dirk Singer, communications consultants, members of Democrats Abroad and authors of an excellent piece “Swimming with the sharks: What progressives can learn from Republicans Against Trump” join me for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts.
You may recall an earlier show had Rob Blackie on talking about what the party can learn from how Trump himself communicates. This time with Laura and Dirk, the show looks at what can be learnt from those campaigning against Trump.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Swimming with the sharks: What progressives can learn from Republicans Against Trump.
Rob Blackie episode on learning from Trump.
The Lincoln Project and some of its adverts.
The Meidas Touch group and some of its adverts.
Republican Voters Against Trump and some of its adverts.
The Taliban bounties story.
My book about trusting - or not trusting - the news.
Donald Trump boasting about slowing down coronavirus tests.
Boris Johnson boasting about shaking the hands of coronavirus patients.
Donald Trump drinks and throws away a glass of water.
The Remainer Now story.
Lindsey Graham loves Joe Biden advert.
Laura's political ad pick.
Dirk's political ad pick.
Follow Laura and Dirk on Twitter.
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The virtues of Marmite: Tim Farron's advice on being a Liberal Democrat party leader

Welcome to a special re-run of a previous, but once again very relevant, edition of Never Mind The Bar Charts. It is from June 2019, which feels a long time ago now but the calendar says that was only 12 months ago. It was the time of the party’s last leadership election, and I did an interview with Tim Farron about his experience as leader of the Liberal Democrats. We focused on his advice for the next party leader as well as tips on what members should ask in hustings meetings.
Both Tim’s advice and tips are still very relevant, so here is that episode again. And do also take a listen to the episode I did recently with Tim Bale, where we also cooked up great hustings questions.
Hope you enjoy the repeat.
Show notes
Jonathan Calder's David Steel versus John Pardoe categorisation for Liberal Democrat leadership contests.
Paperclip design.
Vince Cable's Stalin to Mr Bean moment at Prime Minister's Questions.
The Lib Dems did indeed, as Tim Farron mentioned, once hit 4% in the polls after the 2015 election.
Tim Farron's response to the European referendum result.
You can watch the first Davey-Swinson hustings from the 2019 contest here. Here is Stephen Bush in the New Statesman on those hustings.
Information about the 2020 leadership contest, including hustings where you can ask the questions mentioned in the show, is on the party website.
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Making the Liberal Democrats win more elections - with Cllr Lisa Smart

Apologies if you got a truncated version of this episode first time around. The podcast host has been playing up a bit but you should now be able to hear the interview all the way through to the end.
How must the Liberal Democrats change in order to win more often? Listen to me discuss this with Lisa Smart, chair of the party's Federal Communications and Elections Committee (FCEC).
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Lisa Smart's election to chair the party's main elections committee.
The show with Tim Bale talking about what opposition parties must do.
The independent review into the 2019 general election.
Support electoral reform? Join the Electoral Reform Society.
The Star Trek reference.
The pros and cons of Steve Webb's approach to being a minister.
How to make targeting work.
Lisa Smart on Twitter.
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Subscribe, rate or review via your favourite podcasting platform - links here.

Good News, Bad News

Welcome to another special edition of Never Mind The Bar Charts, this time my appearance on Democratically: 2020 with Karin Robinson. We talk about my book, Bad News, the US Presidential race and how election coverage is so often wrong.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Democratically: 2020 on Apple Podcasts. (It's also on all the other standard podcast platforms.
Karin Robinson on Twitter.
Sign up for a free chapter from Bad News.
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The five things an opposition party must do: interview with Tim Bale

What makes for a successful opposition party? How much of that success is down to the leader? How much does policymaking matter in opposition? Wnat question should be asked the Lib Dem leadership election hustings? These are just some of the topics I chewed over with opposition expert Professor Tim Bale in this episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Tim Bale's previous appearance, talking about how you can persuade someone to join a political party.
Tim Bale's excellent, re-arrangeable book on Ed Miliband.
Recovering Power: The Conservatives in Opposition Since 1867: the book from which the list five things opposition parties must do came: Amazon / Waterstones.
The Liberal Democrat election review.
Tim Harford on how to avoid making mistakes.
Turning Japanese: the excellent book that didn't foretell the future.
That Norman Lamont photo (with a young David Cameron in the background).
The Politics of Competence by Will Jennings and Jane Green: Amazon / Waterstones.
Will Jennings on Twitter.
Jane Green on Twitter.
Tim Bale on Twitter.
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Party leadership, online conferences and the election review

I teamed up with the Lib Dem Pod crew for another special joint episode, with John and Richard grilling me about what's going on in the party.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
The Liberal Democrat election review.
Follow Lib Dem Pod on Twitter.
Get Lib Dem Pod on YouTube.
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Why good pollsters are filled with doubt: interview with YouGov's Chris Curtis

I often talk about opinion poll data with guests on Never Mind The Bar Charts, so this time to talk about what we can read into the polls – and what we shouldn’t – I was joined by a pollster, YouGov’s Chris Curtis. We started off with discussing what a pollster actually does all day...
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
One of those quirky YouGov polling questions.
British Polling Council.
The great Yes, Prime Minister sketch on leading poll questions.
Research that shows the accuracy of political opinion polls.
New UK pollster Redfield & Wilton Strategies.
YouGov's issues tracker showing the sustained interest in the environment.
Chris Curtis on Twitter.
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What must the Liberal Democrats learn from Donald Trump?

Donald Trump may not be the most obvious of role models for the Liberal Democrats. But there's a lot about effective communication the party can learn from him. After all, he won a national election, defying political establishments and seeing off unfriendly media along the way.
So in this episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talk about him with Rob Blackie. I used to work with Rob at Lib Dem HQ many years ago when he was the maestro of costing manifesto policies. He has since carved out a very successful career in marketing and communications.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
The wonder of brevity.
The Hemingway App.
Yoast Search Engine Optimisation tools and advice.
The Lincoln Project's targeted advert which trolled Donald Trump.
Ducks and potholes.
Rob Blackie as a womble.
Donald Trump in Home Alone 2.
Yes!: 60 secrets from the science of persuasion.
Rob Blackie's Twitter thread on Donald Trump.
Photo by History in HD on Unsplash.
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