If there is one thing we learned from the shock results of Brexit and the 2015 Tory majority it was to listen to the pubs not the polls. Both times, had we listened more to conversations in the Dog and Ducks of Britain we’d have had the clues for what lay ahead.
In 2015, Labour may have been ahead in the polls, but people just couldn’t see Ed Miliband on the steps of No 10. With Brexit, the passion of wanting to “take back control” was a far greater draw than any fears of a “leap in the dark” if we left.
So in 2017, Edelman has teamed up with Huff Po on a public opinion road trip, so we’re not caught out again.
What are people in Britain really thinking? What kind of a leader is Jeremy Corbyn? Are Remainers happy to see Theresa May negotiate Brexit? Do any of the party’s policies really cut through to people in their everyday lives?
They say that most people come into contact with politics for just six minutes a week. But precisely what and who gets cut through in that time is the holy grail for political parties of all stripe.
Come with us on our journey through the campaign as we find out.
Week one – Analysis: What Slough’s HuffPost UK-Edelman Focus Group Tells Us About Labour
Week two – Leave Voters ‘Must Vote Tory If They Believe In Democracy’, Says Focus Group
Week three – ‘Tories Are For Rich, White People’ Black And Ethnic Minority Voters Explain Why They Won’t Back Theresa May
Week four – Nick Clegg Should Replace Tim Farron As Lib Dem Leader, Says HuffPost UK-Edelman Focus Group