Latest voting intention and leadership ratings opinion polls
Welcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention polls for the next UK general election, along with MRP projections and party leadership ratings.
Mark Pack
Lib Dem peer and political polling expert
Latest posts
Lib Dems gain seats from both Reform and Labour
Two principal authority council by-elections this week and two Liberal Democrat gains - adding to the other two councillors the party had already picked up this week.
Council by-election results scorecard 2026-2027
Here's the latest tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held since the last May round of local elections.
Conservative councillor Heather McLain joins Lib Dems
Gloucestershire Live reports news of Cllr Heather McLain joining the Liberal Democrats from the Conservatives in Tewkesbury.
Lib Dem Federal Conference: use the drafting advice service
The drafting advice service for Lib Dem Federal Conference is essential, however well you think you know your topic.
Café with a view #20: Bedfords Park Nature Discovery Centre
The cafe at the Bedfords Park Nature Discovery Centre is a fairly standard park cafe, but the view is anything but standard.
How many councillors has Reform UK lost since the May 2026 elections?
A list of Reform councillors elected on or after 7 May 2026 who the party has already shed.
Councillor Martin Allen joins Liberal Democrats from the Greens
The Liberal Democrats have welcomed Councillor Martin Allen to the party after he announced he was leaving the Greens.
Why you should read old election manuals
If I had to do my history PhD over again, I would definitely pick a study of election manuals. Through this and the previous two centuries, they tell the story of...
Democracy, defence policy, health care and more at Lib Dem Autumn Conference
The agenda and reports to conference for the Autumn Conference in Brighton have been published, including the full text of all the motions to be debated.
Two more wards become Reform vs Lib Dem in council by-elections
Five principal authority council by-elections this week, and all five with Lib Dem candidates - which is particularly impressive as there was...
A murder mystery set in Parliament, written by a pioneering MP
Mark and Cory are joined by Elinor Taylor for our first book! It is Ellen Wilkinson’s The Division Bell Mystery, a political thriller disguised as a golden age detective story.
Kemi Badenoch’s dismissive attitude towards local government
Kemi Badenoch's defence of the selection of former neo-Nazi Joshua Bonehill-Paine is it is okay as it is for a council rather Parliament.
Ellen Wilkinson: the first female Minister of Education
Ellen Wilkinson’s political career culminated in being Minister of Education in Clement Attlee’s 1945 government. She also wrote a murder mystery.
The government’s near-invisible power to veto legislation
As someone who has written about, and repeatedly raised in Parliament, questions about the quality and clarity of our laws, it was great...
First Clacton by-election opinion poll released
Survation has carried out a constituency poll in Clacton ahead of the Parliamentary by-election.
Council by-election win for Lib Dems in marginal Westminster seat
Five principal authority council by-elections this week plus the one for the Mayor of Greater Manchester. Let s start with a Lib Dem defence in a ward that s located in just the sort of Parliamentary seat the party needs to win in order to prosper at the next general election: Congratulations to new councillor Jim Paine [ ]
Starmer has come and gone but the 2024 election bills still need sorting by the government
Election agents, often volunteers, have a tight legal timetable to meet for submitting their candidate expense returns after an election. But the government...
Procedures and rule books are the real heroes of this film
The US constitution is one of the sets of rules that are the real heroes of Mr Smith Goes To Washington.
The infected blood scandal highlights the siloed nature of Whitehall
Across a little over two decades, more than 30,000 people were given infected blood by the NHS.
First Labour by-election gains of the Burnham Premiership
Five principal authority council by-elections this week, including Labour's first gains of the Andy Burnham era.
Mr Smith Goes To Washington
Aidan Byrne joins Mark and Cory to watch the classic Mr Smith Goes to Washington. It’s a film full of shameless emotional manipulation, especially from some of the children in it.
Lib Dems should target becoming largest party in local government (LDN#212)
Welcome to Lib Dem Newswire #212, which expands on why the Liberal Democrats should set - and then work seriously to hit! - a target of being the largest party in local government.
Labour councillor joins Lib Dems in Portsmouth
Rajah Ghosh, a Labour councillor in Portsmouth, has decided to join the Liberal Democrats over local government reorganisation.
Political history points against early general elections
Perhaps my piece of political punditry that has aged best is the set of reasons I gave in early 2017 as to why Theresa May would not call an early election.