Never Mind The Bar Charts

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talk with Duncan Brack, the closest thing the party has to an official historian, about the lessons for the Liberal Democrats from the last time that a Conservative government was defeated.
A key part of that was cross-party cooperation so we dive into what then party leader Paddy Ashdown's plans were, what worked, what didn't work and what lessons apply to this Parliament.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Lessons from the Ashdown-Blair ‘Project’ - Duncan Brack's book chapter on the topic.
The Cook-Maclennan talks.
Ways for parties to cooperate without making seat deals.
Never Mind The Bar Charts on Paddy Ashdown's legacy.
Never Mind The Bar Charts on what it's like working with Dominic Cummings.
Coalition Diaries by David Laws - Amazon / Waterstones
Who Killed Kitchener? The Life and Death of Britain's most famous War Minister by David Laws - Amazon / Waterstones
Duncan Brack on Twitter.
The Liberal Democrat History Group.
Photo credits.
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In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talk with Sunder Katwala from the British Future think tank. Along with discussing civil rights in the age of coronavirus and the impact on BAME communities, he raised the important issue of the human bias towards pessimism and its impact on our reactions to the coronavirus crisis.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
Sunder on how the Liberal Democrats can improve their diversity.
The University of Leicester study into who has caught Covid-19.
Research into our pessimism bias.
Sunder on Twitter.
British Future.
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow: Amazon / Waterstones.
John Maynard Keynes by Robert Skidelsky: Amazon / Waterstones.
Image by Jasmin Sessler from Pixabay.
Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media
Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talked with the chief executive of Demos, Polly Mackenzie, about the impact of coronavirus on public policy. We got a bonus bit of background music courtesy of one of her children and a piano.
As with the other shows since coronavirus, this one was recorded over video call so apologies for the occasional blip in sound quality.
Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.
Show notes
The Demos website, including the old content being re-released as discussed in the show.
The previous show with Phil Cowley and that Martin Kettle piece.
Nervous States: how feeling took over the world by William Davies - Amazon / Waterstones.
Georgette Heyer's books - Amazon / Waterstones.
Polly's previous appearance on Never Mind The Bar Charts.
Follow Polly on Twitter.
Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media
Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

In a special tie-up with the Lib Dem Podcast, I'm interviewed by Cllr John Potter about the decision to postpone the Liberal Democrat leadership election and whether or not the party's autumn federal conference should be cancelled.
Show notes
Leadership election postponed
The Lib Dem Podcast: Twitter / Instagram / iTunes

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I speak with Professor Phil Cowley, one of Britain’s leading political scientists, co-author for several general elections of authoritative Nuffield study and someone who casts the net so widely in his research that I occasionally appear in his footnotes.
Phil’s been on my list of possible guests for a while, but I particularly wanted to talk to him now as he’s currently living in Hong Kong, somewhere that’s been much in the news here in the UK for comparisons over how coronavirus is being tackled in each place.
We also talk about what this all means for British politics, and Phil's picks for books to read at the moment.
Show notes
Martin Kettle's piece on the possible (non-)impact of coronavirus on politics.
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World by Laura Spinney - Amazon / Waterstones.
Agent Jack by Rob Hutton - Amazon / Waterstones.
Electoral Shocks: The Volatile Voter in a Turbulent World - Amazon / Waterstones.
Phil Cowley's excellent books - Amazon / Waterstones.
Phil Cowley on Twitter.
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Before the coronavirus crisis hit, I recorded a podcast with my published, Biteback Books, about my new book, Bad News.
Listen to find out how you can make sense of the news all around us, the problem with news coverage on gun control, the (lack of a problem) with news echo chambers and filter bubbles, why I look back on my daily commute in years past with amazement and how I came to write Bad News.
Show notes
Biteback Chats Books podcast.
Buy Bad News from Waterstones, Amazon, Biteback or Hive.
Music: Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod / Link / License.

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I welcomed back to the show academic Paula Surridge. We talked about what the British Election Study is and what its polling data from the 2019 general election shows, including its implications for the future for the Liberal Democrats.
Show notes
Paula Surridge on Twitter.
Is politics still about left versus right? - the previous show with Paula Surridge.
The British Election Study (BES).
Sign up for more polling news with Polling UnPacked.
Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media
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In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talk with Councillor Anton Georgiou from Brent, who won a spectacular by-election victory in January and is now getting to enjoy being a councillor.
What's it like? How did he win? And how can others emulate him?
Listen to find out...
Show notes
Anton Georgiou's by-election victory.
His tweets about being a councillor.
The importance of pointing at potholes.
Daniel Brown, former Lib Dem councillor for Alperton and his autocorrection tip.
Siobhan Benita's campaign to be Mayor of London.
Stephen Robinson on what it's like to be a council leader.
ALDC.
Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media
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In this episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, the Liberal Democrat leader of Chelmsford Council, Stephen Robinson is interviewed about what Lib Dem council leader does, and how he got to be one in the first place.
Show notes:
The Chelmsford team were great at welcoming and making good use of volunteers who came to help.
Read the then Conservative leader of Chelmsford Council explaining before polling day that, "we have mostly avoided canvassing up to now".
A big vote increase but a long way off winning: the Chelmsford result at the 2019 general election.
Black Box Thinking: the lessons of marginal gains.
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Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

Professor Tim Bale, one of the leading experts in political party membership, talks about who joins parties, why they join and how those who join the Liberal Democrats differ from those who join other parties. Plus he gives his top tips on how to persuade people to join a party.
Show notes:
Footsoldiers: political party membership in the 21st century.
Why supporters don't always join parties.
The research on how to get members involved.
Five Year Mission: Tim Bale's study of Ed Miliband.
Tim Bale used the phrase, "That's a great question". Here's a whole other podcast episode just about that phase, from Freakonomics.
The previous Never Mind The Bar Charts show with Paula Surridge.
The preamble to the Liberal Democrat constitution.
Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media
Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.