Elections and voters

Our expertise covers elections and polling in the UK and around the world as well as political participation, new media and women in politics.

Prof Ed Fieldhouse

Prof Ed Fieldhouse

Ed is Professor of Social and Political Science, and Principal Investigator of the British Election Study, one of the longest running election surveys worldwide. His research interests include voting behaviour,  turnout, election campaigns, and electoral geography.  Recent work has focussed on how electoral shocks affect voting behaviour and social influences on voter turnout.

Prof Rob Ford

Dr Rob Ford

Rob is an expert on public opinion, electoral choice, immigration politics and the radical right. He is a co-author of "Revolt on the Right", an award-winning study of UKIP and co-editor of "Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box", a volume of essays looking at the more unusual elements of voter behaviour and psychology. Rob has worked as a consultant psephologist with the BBC elections programme since 2005 and has extensive television, radio and print media experience.

Prof Rachel Gibson

Prof Rachel Gibson

Rachel is an expert on the impact of New Media on political parties, campaigns and elections. She directs the Cathie Marsh Institute for Social Research (CMI) and in 2015 worked with the British Election Study team to produce a study of social media use during the UK 2015 General election. She was a co-investigator of the 2016 Australian Election Study (AES) has held a number of international research and teaching positions at Universities in Australia, Germany and Spain.

Dr Nicole Martin

Nicole Martin

Nicole’s expertise is on ethnic minority candidates and voters, she would welcome media enquiries about these topics and the issue of ethnicity in UK elections in general. 

Dr Jon Mellon

Dr Jon Mellon

Jon Mellon is a Hallsworth Fellow and a member of the British Election Study team as well as the 2015 and 2017 BBC exit poll team.  His research focuses on two areas. First, how to measure public opinion and elections (e.g., Understanding polls and how they can go wrong; how to interpret electoral statistics). Second, understanding political change in Britain (e.g., The rise and fall of minor parties; Why voters switch parties; How political shocks shape elections)

Dr Olga Onuch

Dr Olga Onuch

Dr Onuch is an internationally leading expert in Ukrainian and Argentine politics. She specializes in the comparative study of protest, elections ethnolinguistic identity and public opinion in democratizing states in Latin American and Eastern Europe. Her research has appeared in the Washington Post, The Times, BBC, Channel Four, Guardian, ITV, Al Jazeera, AFP, among others.

Dr Chris Prosser

Chris Prosser

Chris Prosser is Research Fellow and member of the British Election Study team. His research focuses on political behaviour, political psychology, party competition, and polling. Chris has extensive print, radio, and television media experience and also works as a psephologist with the ITV News elections programme.

Prof Dave Richards

Prof Dave Richards

A Professor of Public Policy, Dave's main research interests are in British politics, Australian politics, public policy, governance, globalisation, state theory and political biography. His current research addresses themes of democracy and accountability, leaks and whistleblowing in government, institutions and crisis and the role of political biography in political analysis.

Dr Rosalind Shorrocks

Dr Rosalind Shorrocks

Rosalind Shorrocks is a Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester. Her research interests are in the field of gender and comparative politics, focusing on electoral politics, political behaviour, and public opinion on gender roles. She also has an interest in UK electoral politics and the role of generations and socialisation in the formation of political attitudes.

Prof Maria Sobolewska

Dr Maria Sobolewska

Maria Sobolewska works on the political integration and representation of ethnic minorities in Britain, public perceptions of integration, and the production and framing of public opinion of British Muslims. She has been part of the team conducting the Ethnic Minority British Election Survey in 2010 and is currently co-authoring a book based on this study.

Dr Nick Turnbull

Dr Nick Turnbull

Nick is a politics lecturer who is an expert in political rhetoric. Nick has worked as a political advisor to a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council and a civil servant in the Australian Public Service. He is able to analyse how speeches and statements made by politicians use language as a means to persuade. Has written about two main areas of study: social policy and the theory of policy and politics.