Elections and the BBC
7 April 2000
Earlier this week Peter Kellner in his column in the London Evening Standard strongly criticised two aspects of BBC coverage of the London Mayor and other local elections to be held next month. First, he complained that the BBC's political journalists in London, who had commissioned a poll on the election from MORI [BBC London Live poll] had been prevented by Corporation policy from including any questions on voting intention; this is merely the continuation of a policy which we have criticised for a number of years. Secondly, he has pointed out a new restriction, which will lead to all the parties being required to run their election broadcasts before Easter, a full ten days before polling day. This, arises from the introduction of pilot schemes in a number of councils across the country, whereby a few polling stations will be open early, on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday before the normal polling day, so that electors who cannot vote in the usual way will be able to cast thei...

Hit and Myth
18 February 2000
The Daily Telegraph's lead editorial on 14 February, argued on the basis of recent Conservative successes in local government by-elections that the Conservatives are in a much stronger position than current opinion polls suggest.

Housing as an electoral issue
3 May 2012
Ipsos MORI CEO, Ben Page, discusses the challenges and paradoxes of housing as a personal and political issue.

Labour's Nightmayor
25 February 2000
In ten weeks' time, in theory, Londoners should be voting for their first directly-elected mayor. Even that is uncertain: because the House of Lords has blocked the passage of the regulations that will govern the contest, there is even the possibility that it may have to be postponed altogether. If so, it would be a final indignity in keeping with the shambles which has pervaded all aspects of the proceedings up to now.

Local Elections Turnout
28 April 2000
Next Thursday will see local government elections being held in most of England, both the high profile contest for London Mayor and the much less heralded contest for more than 3,300 seats on around 150 district and borough councils. Turnout will almost certainly be dire, as it nearly always is these days; last year it was 36% in the shire districts, 31% in the unitary authorities and just 26% in the metropolitan boroughs.

Local Elections: Why No-one Gives A Monkey's
3 May 2002
In a sense it says all that needs to be said about yesterday's local election that a man in a monkey suit is now Mayor of Hartlepool.

Mediawatch - Some amazing manifestos for local elections…
26 April 2012
We are now just a week away from the local elections so what do their election broadcasts, out a few days ago, tell us? Ben Page writes in Local Government Chronicle.

Predicting the Mayoral Election – an alternative approach
3 May 2012
Dr. Roger Mortimore uses his Sweet FA Prediction Model to predict who will be elected as London Mayor.