05
October
2026
|
16:37
Europe/London
University of Manchester involved in landmark Study of British Democracy
University of Manchester researchers form part of a team of experts working on the British Election Study, the UK’s longest-running survey of voting behaviour.
British Election Study
A sign reading 'polling station.'
Summary
- A team of experts at the University of Manchester will combine expertise to transform how we understand British democracy.
- The British Election Study (BES) has tracked the attitudes and behaviour of British voters at every general election since 1964.
- The Manchester experts are based in the departments of Politics and Social Statistics.
A team of experts at the University of Manchester will combine expertise to transform how we understand British democracy.
The team will be involved in the British Election Survey (BES) - the longest-running and most authoritative survey of electoral behaviour in the UK, tracking the attitudes and behaviour of British voters at every general election since 1964.
A new study, themed ‘Representing Voters’, places the representation of different groups of voters at the heart of its design, analysis and dissemination. It will introduce new methods, new data and new ways of making the British Election Survey accessible to researchers, policymakers, journalists and the public.
The Manchester experts, Maria Sobolewska, Jack Bailey, Alex Cernat and Rob Ford are based in the departments of Politics and Social Statistics, and they form part of a research team bringing together investigators from University of Manchester, Royal Holloway and King’s College London. The full team combines expertise in electoral behaviour, survey methodology, AI, social media, candidate politics and public engagement.
“
The British Election Study has always been about representation, understanding how different communities across Britain engage with democracy. This new award lets us go further: to study the candidates who stand before them, enabling the BES to capture a fuller picture of the electoral process, both voters and those who seek to represent them.
Professor Maria Sobolewska, Professor of Political Science
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