DOCSLIB.ORG

Brexit Befuddles British Pollsters

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Brexit Befuddles British Pollsters Issue: Brexit Short Article: Brexit Befuddles British Pollsters By: Andy McSmith Pub. Date: August 15, 2016 Access Date: October 2, 2021 DOI: 10.1177/237455680216.n6 Source URL: http://businessresearcher.sagepub.com/sbr-1775-100664-2746302/20160815/short-article-brexit-befuddles-british-pollsters ©2021 SAGE Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ©2021 SAGE Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Are telephone or online surveys more accurate? Executive Summary British polling firms are picking through the rubble of their reputations for clues on why most mistakenly forecast a win for the Remain camp. Full Article The embarrassment that followed the United Kingdom’s vote for Brexit was not confined to those who had campaigned to remain in the European Union: The pollsters did not cover themselves in glory, either. The betting shops and online betting companies, who do a brisk trade in the U.K. taking wagers on elections and other political events, also took a hit because, after reading the polls, they had offered generous odds to anyone wanting to place a late bet on Brexit winning. Two out of the 10 main polling companies called it right, even if their predictions were off target. The final internet polls conducted by Opinium and TNS both predicted Leave to win 51 percent, with Remain at 49 percent. Since the actual result was Leave 51.9 percent, Remain 48.1 percent, those polls were within the margin of error of 2 percentage points. YouGov conducted its last poll a few days earlier and also called the result roughly right. Meanwhile, one pollster, Populus, gave Remain a 10-percentage-point lead; another, ComRes, put Remain 8 points ahead. Every poll conducted in the last few days underestimated the Leave vote. Averaging out the result to produce a “poll of polls” put Remain at 52 percent and Leave at 48 percent. The numbers, oddly, were right, but they were the wrong way round. The reason polling companies do political polls is not because they are particularly lucrative, but because of the free publicity they attract, which helps establish the pollsters’ brands. However, they need to be able to reassure their commercial clients that they can measure public reactions accurately, so it is not good for business when they very publicly get it wrong. In all, it was an embarrassing reminder of how, in the run-up to the U.K.’s 2015 general election, the polls consistently underestimated the Conservative vote and overestimated Labour’s. One argument during the campaign was over the relative reliability of telephone versus internet surveys. In the final slew of polls, those conducted by telephone gave Remain a 6-point lead on average, while online polls put Remain a mere 2 points ahead. Both approaches have drawbacks. Online polls are weak because they have difficulty drawing in people who are too uninterested in politics to take part, and affluent, socially liberal professionals who don’t have the time to spare. The weakness of telephone polling is the low rate of replies: reaching 2,000 respondents can require dialing 28,000 randomly generated numbers. There is also the problem of “social satisficing,” which makes people inclined to express the opinion they believe to be socially acceptable, rather than the one they actually hold, when talking to someone on the phone. Pollsters believe this is less of a problem in online surveys, which are more anonymous. One of the U.K.’s best-known political pollsters was Peter Kellner, a former journalist whose wife, Cathy Ashton, was the EU’s first foreign minister. Having recently retired, he was able to give a detached view. He acknowledged that “satisficing” might tempt people who proposed to vote Leave to tell telephone pollsters that they were supporting Remain, because that was the “establishment” view, but he said that telephone polls were nonetheless more reliable than online polls. 1 This was also the view reached in a paper published in March by two analysts from Populus. 2 Kellner had several reasons for drawing this conclusion, not least that in the United States, telephone polls had measured Donald J. Trump’s support in Republican presidential primaries more accurately than online polls. 3 This led Kellner to the embarrassing prediction that Remain would win by 8 points. The pollsters have barely begun the painful process of working out why they got it so wrong. One obvious trap was that the turnout, at 72 percent, was higher than for almost any election since 1992. In adjusting their samples, pollsters always allow for the fact that not everyone votes. Thus, in the last week, the fieldwork by the ORB International polling firm and TNS produced identical results – Remain 49, Leave 51. The previous week, TNS had eliminated all but those certain to vote, giving Remain an 8-point lead. In the last week, TNS changed course and stayed with its original figures, to its great relief. ORB stuck to the policy of eliminating those uncertain to vote and – like Kellner –forecast an 8-point win for Remain. After the result, Andrew Hawkins, the chairman of the ComRes polling firm – which had had a good run in recent elections but got the referendum badly wrong – issued a statement in which he suggested that two factors had led their pollsters astray. 4 One was the pollsters’ standard excuse that people changed their minds at the last minute. The more interesting proposition was that pollsters may need to take more account of regional disparities. “We will need to find a way to manage this new dynamic,” Hawkins wrote. Page 2 of 3 Short Article: Brexit Befuddles British Pollsters SAGE Business Researcher ©2021 SAGE Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The evidence can be founded in the voter turnout data released by the U.K.’s Electoral Commission. Turnout was below 70 percent in each of the three areas – London, Scotland and Northern Ireland – that voted Remain, and above 70 percent in every other region except for the northeast of England, where it was 69.3 percent. 5 By contrast, in the 2015 general election, Scotland was the only region of the U.K. where turnout was above 70 percent. 6 In the East Midlands, to take one example, turnout was 63.3 percent in 2015 and 74.2 percent a year later, and “Leave” won by 1.5 million votes to 1 million, In all, 3 million people voted in the Brexit referendum who had not voted in the previous year’s general election. The statistical evidence is that the Brexit campaign won by turning out people in the poorer parts of the country, who had perhaps never voted before. It was a localized phenomenon that the pollsters simply failed to see. About the Author Andy McSmith is a veteran British journalist who has worked for many years as a top political correspondent and political editor for major newspapers in the United Kingdom, including The Independent, The Observer and the Daily Telegraph. He has written books about Great Britain in the Margaret Thatcher era, the British Labour Party and its leaders, and a history of Soviet artists during Stalin’s reign. Notes [1] Peter Kellner, “EU referendum: ‘remain’ on course for clear victory,” The Politics Counter, May 20, 2016, http://tinyurl.com/zbk48qc. Andrew Hawkins: Fellow pollsters must pay more attention to regional demographics. [2] Matt Singh and James Kanagasooriam, “Polls apart: An investigation into the differences between phone and online polling for the UK’s EU membership referendum,” Populus, March 2016, http://tinyurl.com/jynbect. [3] Nate Cohn, “Is Traditional Polling Underselling Donald Trump’s True Strength,” The New York Times, May 17, 2016, http://tinyurl.com/hndhrao. [4] Andrew Hawkins, “Statement: EU Referendum Polls,” ComRes, June 24, 2016, http://tinyurl.com/hd8ty3c. [5] “EU referendum results,” The Electoral Commission, undated, http://tinyurl.com/zthfzg2. [6] “General Election 2015,” briefing paper, House of Commons Library, July 28, 2015, http://tinyurl.com/pbzb2ud. Page 3 of 3 Short Article: Brexit Befuddles British Pollsters SAGE Business Researcher.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • OPENING PANDORA's BOX David Cameron's Referendum Gamble On
    OPENING PANDORA’S BOX David Cameron’s Referendum Gamble on EU Membership Credit: The Economist. By Christina Hull Yale University Department of Political Science Adviser: Jolyon Howorth April 21, 2014 Abstract This essay examines the driving factors behind UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to call a referendum if the Conservative Party is re-elected in 2015. It addresses the persistence of Euroskepticism in the United Kingdom and the tendency of Euroskeptics to generate intra-party conflict that often has dire consequences for Prime Ministers. Through an analysis of the relative impact of political strategy, the power of the media, and British public opinion, the essay argues that addressing party management and electoral concerns has been the primary influence on David Cameron’s decision and contends that Cameron has unwittingly unleashed a Pandora’s box that could pave the way for a British exit from the European Union. Acknowledgments First, I would like to thank the Bates Summer Research Fellowship, without which I would not have had the opportunity to complete my research in London. To Professor Peter Swenson and the members of The Senior Colloquium, Gabe Botelho, Josh Kalla, Gabe Levine, Mary Shi, and Joel Sircus, who provided excellent advice and criticism. To Professor David Cameron, without whom I never would have discovered my interest in European politics. To David Fayngor, who flew halfway across the world to keep me company during my summer research. To my mom for her unwavering support and my dad for his careful proofreading. And finally, to my adviser Professor Jolyon Howorth, who worked with me on this project for over a year and a half.
    [Show full text]
  • No. 118, November, 1990
    No 118 November/December 1990 30p Newspaper of the Spartacist League Margaret Thatcher: goingLgoing ... Labour, Tories offer war, slump, inflation ' 21 NOVEMBER-As we go to press, Plenty of people will be happy to see ment rate recording its largest monthly "services are no longer required" as they Michael Heseltine's challenge for leader­ the back of Maggie Thatcher, the vicious increase in four years. Recession and the rearm in the face of depression and im­ ship of the Tory party has received 152 "butcher of the Belgrano", ghoul of King's Gulf crisis are rendering many govern­ pending war. What they have in mind is a votes to Prime Minister Margaret That­ Cross, raving anti-worker swine. But the ments in the imperialist West shaky­ regime better capable of waging the cher's 204, thus forcing a second ballot attempted purge of Thatcher is being en­ from Bush in the US to Mitterrand's capitalist offensive against the working within a week. A bitter power struggle gineered by those who seek to restore an France. The weak British economy, rav­ class and the poor-to cut jobs, to lower within the party has been open and public effective bourgeois authority. Thus, among aged by decades of capitalist neglect and wages and if necessary to send them off since the cutting parliamentary address of the most vehement exponents of anti­ devastation, offers no easy options to the as cannon fodder. As the Sunday Times Sir Geoffrey Howe, until recently the sole Thatcherism is the Independent, which is bosses. Industry has been cut to the bone, (18 November) wrote in its editorial "A surviving member of Thatcher's original also among the most rabid supporters of rail and transport starved of investment, reluctant goodbye" of the Thatcher re­ 1979 cabinet.
    [Show full text]
  • The Inner Workings of British Political Parties the Interaction of Organisational Structures and Their Impact on Political Behaviours
    REPORT The Inner Workings of British Political Parties The Interaction of Organisational Structures and their Impact on Political Behaviours Ben Westerman About the Author Ben Westerman is a Research Fellow at the Constitution Society specialising in the internal anthropology of political parties. He also works as an adviser on the implications of Brexit for a number of large organisations and policy makers across sectors. He has previously worked for the Labour Party, on the Remain campaign and in Parliament. He holds degrees from Bristol University and King’s College, London. The Inner Workings of British Political Parties: The Interaction of Organisational Structures and their Impact on Political Behaviours Introduction Since June 2016, British politics has entered isn’t working’,3 ‘Bollocks to Brexit’,4 or ‘New Labour into an unprecedented period of volatility and New Danger’5 to get a sense of the tribalism this fragmentation as the decision to leave the European system has engendered. Moreover, for almost Union has ushered in a fundamental realignment a century, this antiquated system has enforced of the UK’s major political groupings. With the the domination of the Conservative and Labour nation bracing itself for its fourth major electoral Parties. Ninety-five years since Ramsay MacDonald event in five years, it remains to be seen how and to became the first Labour Prime Minister, no other what degree this realignment will take place under party has successfully formed a government the highly specific conditions of a majoritarian (national governments notwithstanding), and every electoral system. The general election of winter government since Attlee’s 1945 administration has 2019 may well come to be seen as a definitive point been formed by either the Conservative or Labour in British political history.
    [Show full text]
  • Visiting Parliamentary Fellowship Celebrating 25 Years 1994-2019
    VISITING PARLIAMENTARY FELLOWSHIP CELEBRATING 25 YEARS 1994-2019 St Antony's College 1 Roger Goodman, Warden of St Antony’s At a recent breakfast with the students, it was decided that the College should do more to advertise what distinguished it from other colleges in Oxford. St Antony’s is: The Oxford college founded by a Frenchman The Oxford college with two Patron Saints (St Antony of Egypt and St Antony of Padua) The Oxford college where almost 90% of the 500 graduate students are from outside UK and the alumni come from 129 countries The Oxford college with international influence: ‘In the mid-2000s, 5% of the world’s foreign ministers had studied at St Antony’s’ (Nick Cohen, The Guardian, 8 Nov, 2015) The Oxford college mentioned in the novels of both John Le Carré and Robert Harris The Oxford college which holds the most weekly academic seminars and workshops The Oxford college with two award-winning new buildings in the past decade To this list can be added: St Antony’s is the Oxford college with a Visiting Parliamentary Fellowship (VPF). There is no other Oxford college that can boast such a list of parliamentarians responsible for a seminar programme over such a long period of time. The College is immensely proud of the Fellowship and greatly indebted to all those who have held it over the past 25 years. We were very grateful to those who have were able to come to the 25th anniversary celebration of the Fellowship programme at the House of Commons on 24 April 2019 and for the many generous letters from those who could not.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report & Financial Statements
    ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2013 The Year in Brief 2013 2012 £’000 £’000 Revenue 14,319 12,673 Profit/(loss) before tax 8,155 (4,633) Total comprehensive profit/(loss) for the year 6,954 (2,989) Net assets of the Group 67,916 62,053 Earnings per 25p ordinary share 41.7p (17.2)p Dividend per ordinary share (based on those proposed in relation to the financial year) 12p** 12p** Net assets attributable to ordinary shareholders per 25p ordinary share 395p 367p **12p – 3p is paid and 9p proposed Contents The Year in Brief 1 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position 26 Directors, Secretary and Advisors 2 Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity 27 Chairman’s Statement 3 Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 28 Chairman’s Ramblings 7 Notes to the Consolidated Accounts 29 Group Strategic Report 13 Parent Company Balance Sheet 53 Report of the Directors 16 Parent Company Cash Flow Statement 54 Corporate Governance 20 Notes to the Parent Company Accounts 55 Independent Auditors’ Report 22 Notice of Annual General Meeting 60 Consolidated Income Statement 24 Ten Year Review 62 Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income 25 1 Panther Securities P.L.C. Directors, Secretary and Advisers Directors * Andrew Stewart Perloff (Chairman and Chief Executive) ** Bryan Richard Galan (Non-executive) ** Peter Michael Kellner (Non-executive) John Terence Doyle (Executive) John Henry Perloff (Executive) Simon Jeffrey Peters (Finance) Company Secretary Simon Jeffrey Peters Registered Office Deneway House, 88-94 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Herts. EN6
    [Show full text]
  • Hard Choices Ahead
    Hard Choices Ahead The Chatham House–YouGov Survey 2012 British Attitudes Towards the UK’s International Priorities Jonathan Knight, Robin Niblett and Thomas Raines July 2012 Hard Choices Ahead The Chatham House–YouGov Survey 2012 British Attitudes Towards the UK’s International Priorities Jonathan Knight, Robin Niblett and Thomas Raines July 2012 © The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2012 Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs) is an independent body which promotes the rigorous study of international questions and does not express opinions of its own. The opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the authors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. Please direct all enquiries to the publishers. Chatham House 10 St James’s Square London SW1Y 4LE T: +44 (0) 20 7957 5700 F: + 44 (0) 20 7957 5710 www.chathamhouse.org Charity Registration No. 208223 ISBN 978-1-86203-269-9 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Cover image: © Andrew Winning/AFP/Getty Images Designed and typeset by Soapbox Communications Limited www.soapbox.co.uk Printed and bound in Great Britain by Latimer Trend and Co Ltd Contents About the Authors iv Preface v Executive Summary vi 1 Introduction 1 2 Reviewing a ‘Distinctive’ British Foreign Policy 2
    [Show full text]
  • Psa Awards Winners 2000, 2003 - 2016
    PSA AWARDS WINNERS 2000, 2003 - 2016 AWARDS TO POLITICIANS Politician of the Year Sadiq Khan (2016) George Osborne (2015) Theresa May (2014) John Bercow (2012) Alex Salmond (2011) David Cameron and Nick Clegg (2010) Barack Obama (2009) Boris Johnson (2008) Alex Salmond (2007) David Cameron (2006) Tony Blair (2005) Gordon Brown (2004) Ken Livingstone (2003) Lifetime Achievement in Politics Gordon Brown (2016) Harriet Harman (2015) David Blunkett (2014) Jack Straw (2013) Sir Richard Leese (2012) Bill Morris (2012) Chris Patten (2012) David Steel (2011) Michael Heseltine (2011) Neil Kinnock (2010) Geoffrey Howe (2010) Rhodri Morgan (2009) Ian Paisley (2009) Paddy Ashdown (2007) Prof John Hume (2006) Lord David Trimble (2006) Sir Tam Dalyell (2005) Kenneth Clarke QC (2004) Baroness Williams of Crosby (2003) Dr Garrett Fitzgerald (2003) Roy Jenkins (2000) Denis Healey (2000) Edward Heath (2000) Special Award for Lifetime Achievement in Politics Aung San Suu Kyi (2007) 1 Opposition Politician of the Year Theresa May (2003) Parliamentarian of the Year Baroness Smith of Basildon (2016) Sarah Wollaston (2015) Nicola Sturgeon (2014) Natascha Engel (2013) Margaret Hodge (2012) Ed Balls (2011) Patrick Cormack (2010) Dennis Skinner (2010) Tony Wright (2009) Vince Cable (2008) John Denham (2007) Richard Bacon MP (2006) Sir Menzies Campbell (2005) Gwyneth Dunwoody (2005) Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC (2004) Robin Cook (2003) Tony Benn (2000) Political Turkey of the Year Veritas (2005) The Law Lords (2004) Folyrood - the Scottish Parliament building
    [Show full text]
  • The Right Alternative? Assessing the Case for the Alternative Vote
    REPORT The Right Alternative? Assessing the case for the Alternative Vote Guy Lodge and Glenn Gottfried April 2011 © ippr 2011 Institute for Public Policy Research Challenging ideas – Changing policy About ippr The Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) is the UK’s leading progressive think tank, producing cutting-edge research and innovative policy ideas for a just, democratic and sustainable world. Since 1988, we have been at the forefront of progressive debate and policymaking in the UK. Through our independent research and analysis we define new agendas for change and provide practical solutions to challenges across the full range of public policy issues. With offices in both London and Newcastle, we ensure our outlook is as broad-based as possible, while our international work extends our partnerships and influence beyond the UK, giving us a truly world-class reputation for high-quality research. ippr, 4th Floor, 13–14 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6DF +44 (0)20 7470 6100 • [email protected] • www.ippr.org Registered charity no. 800065 This paper was first published in April 2011. © 2011 The contents and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors only. About the authors Guy Lodge is Associate Director for Politics and Power at ippr. Glenn Gottfried is a research fellow at ippr. Acknowledgments We would like to thank Sarah Birch, John Curtice, Iain McLean, and Alan Renwick for responding to various queries relating to AV. Like others who have looked at this debate we are enormously grateful to the work of David Sanders, Harold Clarke, Marianne Stewart and Paul Whiteley, who lead the research team for the British Election Study and who produced the most accurate and detailed AV simulation for the 2010 election.
    [Show full text]
  • Fabian Policy Report
    FABIAN POLICY REPORT IN IT TOGETHER Labour’s new relationship with business, by Robert Tinker and Ed Wallis The Portman Group is the social responsibility body for alcohol producers in the UK. Its role is to regulate the promotion and packaging of alcoholic drinks sold or marketed in the UK, to challenge and encourage the industry to market its products responsibly and to show leadership on best practice in alcohol social responsibility through the actions of member companies. The Portman Group 20 Conduit Street London W1S 2XW 020 7290 1460 www.portmangroup.org.uk Twitter: @portmangroup ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS The Fabian Society would like to thank the Portman Group Acknowledgements iii for supporting this project. The research has involved extensive consultation with Summary 2 a wide group of experts and professionals. In particular we Introduction: Labour’s charter for business 5 would like to thank the following for their contributions: Ed Ainsworth, Jessica Asato, Andrew Burke, Andrew Carter, 1 Clarity of vision 10 John Clarke, Nita Clarke, David Coats, Dan Corry, Ciaran 2 Trust and relationships 15 Driver, Rowenna Davis, Fiona Ferguson, Maurice Glasman, Victoria Groulef, Tim Hames, Alastair Harper, Lee Hopley, 3 Incentives to change 19 Will Hutton, Peter Kellner, Peter Kenway, Marc Kidson, An- Conclusion: risk and reward 24 drew Kuyk, Adam Lent, Mariana Mazzucato, Emran Mian, Rick Muir, Barry Neville, Chi Onwurah, Ben Page, Alistair References 25 Reed, Charlie Samuda, Sonia Sodha, Kitty Ussher, Stewart Wood, George Windsor, Giles Wilkes, Janet Williamson, Iain Wright. Thanks also to the Fabian Society staff for their sup- port during this project, especially Ciara Dunne, Andrew Harrop, Anya Pearson, Marcus Roberts, Richard Speight, Daisy Srblin, Felicity Slater and Cameron Tait.
    [Show full text]
  • Securing Funds Future
    March 2011, ISSN 0955-6281, Vol. 22 No. 1 Securing Funds Future Political science and related disciplines discussions on the EU’s future research joined with politics professional bodies are vitally important in helping to plans. in France, Germany, Ireland, Spain and deal with Europe’s many problems The Green Paper’s proposals set other European countries in a letter to including slow growth, the need for out the EU’s goal in the 8th Framework Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European financial reform, social exclusion, civic Programme to speed up progress toward Commissioner for Research, Innovation capacity building, and so on, according a genuinely unified European Research and Science to press the claims for to Professor Vicky Randall, Chair of Area but signal a possibly reduced role social sciences and humanities to play a the Political Studies Association. She for politics as well as other social sciences vital role in meeting the challenges and was reacting to speculation that the and humanities subjects. Observers opportunities Europe is facing. social sciences may be substantially have also seen ominous signs at an disadvantaged in EU funding from organisational level with the integration Discipline’s Capacity 2013 onwards, according to critics of of the specialist section of DG Research Professor Vicky Randall, Chair, has the recently published Green Paper on dealing with social science into a broader liaised with the European Confederation research funding. Professor Randall grouping. Professor Randall urged the of Political Science Associations to draw went on to say that she was sure that the Association to adopt a less pessimistic the Commissioner’s attention to the strength of politics in the UK, together view.
    [Show full text]
  • A Biography of Christopher Hitchens As a Public Intellectual
    The Public Intellectual: Continuity as a Pre-Requisite for Credibility? A Biography of Christopher Hitchens as a Public Intellectual. MA Thesis in European Studies Graduate School for Humanities Universiteit van Amsterdam Author: Glenn Walters Student number: 11108304 Main Supervisor: Dr. Guido Snel Second Supervisor: Dr. Alex Drace-Francis June, 2016 1 Table of Contents x. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 xi Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................... 3 xii Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 6 1. Chapter One: Christopher Hitchens’ Life and Writing Career .......................................... 9 1.1 Autobiography and Hitch-22 ................................................................................................. 9 1.2 Early life, Oxford University, and the International Socialists .............................................. 10 1.3 Bohemian Bloomsbury and The New Statesman ................................................................. 13 1.4 America and The Nation ..................................................................................................... 17 1.5 Vanity Fair and the 1990’s .................................................................................................. 20 1.6 Later Career and American Citizenship
    [Show full text]
  • On Another Planet
    FABIAN REVIEW The quarterly magazine of the Fabian Society Autumn 2012 / fabians.org.uk / £4.95 ON ANOTHER PLANET Our new poll shows how we can bring politics back down to earth, with Katie Ghose, Peter Kellner, Lisa Nandy and Ed Wallis p8 / Interview: “Opposition politics is about storytelling” Jon Cruddas tells Mary Riddell p14 / Essay: Geoff Mulgan on the long-term economy p18 Contents FABIAN REVIEW Volume 124—No. 3 Leader Andrew Harrop 2 Primary colours Shortcuts Deborah Mattinson 3 How has year two been for Ed? David Lammy 4 Out of the trenches William Davies 5 Policy-making after the crisis Hazel Blears 5 Making our representatives more representative David Walker 6 Beware of zombies James Harkin 7 Heading for the ditch? Cover story Ed Wallis 8 Another planet Peter Kellner 11 Becoming real Katie Ghose 12 Straight talking could get people tuning back in Lisa Nandy 13 Celebrate debate Interview Mary Riddell 14 What’s the story? Policy pitch Victoria Barr 17 A rainy day fund Essay Geoff Mulgan 18 Engaging with the future Books Marcus Roberts 22 The secrets of power 24 Fabian Fringe Guide 26 Fabian Society section FABIAN REVIEW FABIAN SOCIETY Events and Partnerships Local Societies Officer, Fabian Review is the quarterly journal of 11 Dartmouth Street Assistant, Melanie Aplin Deborah Stoate the Fabian Society. Like all publications of London SW1H 9BN the Fabian Society, it represents not the 020 7227 4900 (main) Editorial Finance and Operations collective view of the Society, but only 020 7976 7153 (fax) Head of Editorial, Ed Wallis Head of Finance and Operations, the views of the individual writers.
    [Show full text]