Understanding and Sourcing Political Opinion Polls

This Library Note provides an overview of contemporary political opinion polls. Section two of the Note focuses on how to understand political polling data, including the accuracy of polls. Section three discusses professional standards within the polling industry and provides an introduction to the British Polling Council, an association of pollsters that aims to encourage the advancement of such standards. Finally, section four summarises the various types of political poll commonly conducted and where to source them. This includes polls on: voting intention for general elections, as well as by-elections, devolved parliament and assembly elections, and European Parliament elections; perceptions of political parties and their leaders, and of politics more generally; and the issues of most importance to voters, such as the economy and immigration. A short summary of major polling organisations operating in the UK is also provided in the Appendix.