Skip to main content

BES news round up

The British Election Study Team
22/12/2014

This year, academic colleagues from around the country have been using British Election Study data to inform public opinion – and in the process have been hitting the news headlines. Professors Jane Green, Geoff Evans, Ed Fieldhouse and Cees Van Der Eijk of the BES Scientific Leadership Team have appeared in the media providing opportunities for BES to get behind the political headlines.

Our highlights include a front page story timed with our successful event on 9 December in the Daily Telegraph entitled Millions of Tory voters to pick Ukip and a Page 2 story in the Sun on Sunday on the same topic – but there was major coverage in many of the national newspapers. That weekend the distinguished writers Andrew Rawnsley and Matthew Parris both praised BES in their respective columns. Following the publication of the Guardian’s Page 4 story, we were amazed to see 246 comments by 7am.

Another highlight was when BES Co-Director Professor Jane Green appeared as a commentator on the BBC’s election special last May with David Dimbleby.

We’ve also been picked up in the Times Red Box, the New Statesman’s popular blog called May2015.com as well as James Kirkup’s blogs in the Daily Telegraph. We’ve appeared on BBC Breakfast, the World at One, BBC Radio Four’s Westminster Hour, Six O’Clock News and the BBC News Channel.

A BES study into Ukip in May was widely reported in the media, including a page 2 story in the Daily Express, and further coverage in the Telegraph, Financial Times and BBC Radio Four and Two.

BES research findings were widely covered during the Scottish Referendum campaign, appearing in most national newspapers North and south of the border as well the major broadcasters.

Our new film, Understanding British Democracy has been getting great reviews since it was launched on YouTube on 9 December.  We’ve already had over 1,250 views – so we’re pleased about that too.

Here is an edited list of some of our highlights:

BES EVENT 9 DECEMBER

Sunday 7

  • The Sun on Sunday: Ukip Mps blow p2
  • Westminster Hour

Monday 8

  • News Statesman. Blog by professor Jane Green

Tuesday 9

10 December

  • Conservatives should form a minority Government to avoid ‘complicated … Telegraph.co.uk – ‎14 hours ago‎ Lord Cooper said the parties would be faced with a different choices in 2015 than they were faced with after the 2010 election when “sense of a sort of jeopardy of the economic situation” made minority government an unlikely option. The Conservatives fell …
  • Daily Star
  • National Review  So what’s going on? Doing the math ahead of the British election in May is very tricky (cramming a whole bunch of competitive parties into a first-past-the-post voting system will do that), but the way things are going it still looks (despite the rise of “red UKIP”) as if it will be the Conservatives that take the main hit from the rise of UKIP (for some discussion as to how this forecast can be reconciled with UKIP’s growing success with “old Labour” voters, this British Election Study has an interesting take).

14 Dec and 13 December

  • Observer: Andrew Rawnsley’s column devoted to what he calls a stimulating series if presentations at the British Election Study event on 9 December, which he attended.
  • Times Saturday: In Matthew Parris column, he writes about the British Election Study event he attended on 9 December, and mentions Manchester’s Professor Jane Green’s research, which he says, shatters the Ukip-as-Heineken myth: Ukip, she finds, have had no more success in reaching persistent non-voters than Labour or the Tories. Professor Green gave one of the 10 presentations at the event.

UKIP RESEARCH, MAY

Nationals

Broadcast

  • BBC Radio Two: Bulletins in morning
  • BBC Radio Four Today Programme bulletins
  • BBC Local Radio (17 stations)
  • BBC News Online: UKIP to ‘retain more support’ in run-up to 2015 election by Chris Mason
  • Sky News
  • Six O’Clock News
  • BBC News Channel
  • Westminster Hour

SCOTTISH REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN, SUMMER

  • Huffington Post
  • BBC Scotland
  • The Scotsman reports findings from the British Election Study which says that undecided are moving towards ‘Yes’, but not enough to win Scotland’s referendum vote.

Also appeared in , often in under the headline Undecided ‘more likely to vote Yes’ , the Daily Record ,Daily Star, Daily Express, Daily Mail and The Times,

THE IMPACT OF THE STUDENT VOTE, NOVEMBER

OTHER FINDINGS FROM BES DATA