Essex Post 1

THE QUALITATIVE ELECTION STUDY OF BRITAIN 2015

Essex Post-Election Focus Group 1conducted May 17th 2015

Transcribed Focus Groups Dataset

Version 1.0

Date of release: 4 July 2016

Principal InvestigatorDr. Edzia Carvalho, University of Dundee

International Co-InvestigatorDr. Kristi Winters, GESIS, Cologne

Research AssistantMarcel Gehrke, GESIS, Cologne

Funded by British Academy and Leverhulme Trust Small Grant SG142740

and supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York, GESIS-Leibniz Institute (Cologne) and University of Dundee

QESB Contacts

qualesb@gmail.com e.carvalho@dundee.ac.uk kristi.winters@gesis.org

www.qesb.info

READ ME

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‘QESB’qualesb2015 @qualesb

Essex Post 1

Transcribed Focus Groups Dataset Version 1.0

On copyright and attribution

Copyright of this transcript belongs to Dr. Edzia Carvalho and Dr. Kristi Winters. Individuals may re-use this document/publication free of charge in any format for research, private study or internal circulation within an organisation. You must re-use it accurately and not present it in a misleading context. You must acknowledge the author, the QES Britain project title, and the source document/publication.

Recommended citation: Carvalho, E. and K. Winters. 2015. 'The Qualitative Election Study of Britain 2015 Dataset', version 1.0. Funded by British Academy and Leverhulme Small Grant SG142740 and supported by GESIS, Carnegie Corporation, and University of Dundee. Available at: http://wintersresearch.wordpress.com

On the transcription

All participants’ names have been changed and any direct or indirect identifiers removed to protect their anonymity

The transcripts in Version 1.0 do not have enhanced data recovery including non-verbal communication. It includes the basic transcription of words said by participants. The participants have been identified through attribution by the moderator or other participants and by an initial attribution by the investigators. Subsequent versions of the dataset will verify attribution of participants by video identification.

The transcripts in this version also do not include extensive instructions given to participants at the beginning of the groups, introductions by participants, and exchanges between participants and moderators during exercises.

Initial Transcription by: Just Write Secretarial Services, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Contact: m.mckillen@btopenworld.com

Reporting conventions used

We have used ** to indicate words, phrases or sentences which we could not hear.

Italic font indicates we have taken a guess at a word/name etc.

Words in parentheses {} indicate physical gestures or what can be heard on the tape but cannot be clearly articulated into specific words.

Removal of direct and indirect identifiers are set off with + word +

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Date of focus group: 17 May 2015

Location: University of Essex, Colchester

Moderator 1: Dr. Kristi Winters

Moderator 2: Dr. Edzia Carvalho

Participants:

2015 Alias Sex Special Category Age group Supporter Party Strength Pre Group Post Group Constituency 2015 vote preferenceEdwina F Retired 57-64 N NA NA Clacton Colchester 1 Clacton Y, not which party

Kathryn F N 34-41 N NA NA Clacton Colchester 1 Clacton Y, not which party

Diane F N 42-48 N NA NA Colchester 1 Colchester 1 Harwich and North Essex Y, not which party

Stacey F N 34-41 N NA NA Colchester 1 Colchester 1 Harwich and North Essex Y, not which party

Violet F N 34-41 N NA NA Colchester 2 Colchester 1 Harwich and North Essex Y, not which party

Karl M Unemployed 34-41 N NA NA Colchester 3 Colchester 1 Colchester Y, and party

Patrick M Student 18-25 N NA NA Colchester 3 Colchester 1 Colchester Y, not which party

Lindsay F N 57-64 Y Labour 4 Colchester 3 Colchester 1 Harwich and North Essex Y, and party

Matthew M SAH parent 42-48 Y Green 5 Colchester LD Colchester 1 Harwich and North Essex Y, and party

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ContentsVOTE CHOICE STORY..............................................................................................................................8

Lindsay...............................................................................................................................................9

Lindsay...............................................................................................................................................9

Lindsay...............................................................................................................................................9

Lindsay...............................................................................................................................................9

Violet.................................................................................................................................................9

Lindsay.............................................................................................................................................10

Violet...............................................................................................................................................10

Violet...............................................................................................................................................11

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................11

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................11

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................11

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................12

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................12

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................12

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................12

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................12

Stacey..............................................................................................................................................13

Stacey..............................................................................................................................................13

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................13

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................13

Diane...............................................................................................................................................13

Diane...............................................................................................................................................14

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................14

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................14

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................14

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................14

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................15

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................15

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................16

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................16

TO WHICH POLICIES WILL YOU PAY ATTENTION?................................................................................16

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Diane...............................................................................................................................................17

Stacey..............................................................................................................................................17

Stacey..............................................................................................................................................17

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................17

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................18

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................19

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................19

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................19

Violet...............................................................................................................................................19

Violet...............................................................................................................................................19

Violet...............................................................................................................................................19

Lindsay.............................................................................................................................................20

VIEWS ON SCOTTISH ELECTION RESULTS............................................................................................20

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................21

Violet...............................................................................................................................................21

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................21

ROLE OF THE SNP ON GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS............................................................................22

Lindsay.............................................................................................................................................23

Diane...............................................................................................................................................23

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................23

Stacey..............................................................................................................................................23

EFFECTS OF POLLS ON VOTING............................................................................................................23

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................23

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................24

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................24

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................24

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................24

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................24

Lindsay.............................................................................................................................................24

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................24

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................25

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................25

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................25

ON THE ELECTORAL PROCESS..............................................................................................................25

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Diane...............................................................................................................................................25

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................26

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................26

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................26

Lindsay.............................................................................................................................................26

WAS THE ELECTION FAIR?...................................................................................................................26

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................27

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................28

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................28

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................28

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................28

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................29

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................29

OPINIONS ON REFERENDUMS.............................................................................................................29

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................29

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................30

Diane...............................................................................................................................................30

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................30

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................30

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................30

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................30

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................30

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................30

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................30

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................30

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................31

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................31

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................31

Patrick..............................................................................................................................................31

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................31

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................32

Diane...............................................................................................................................................32

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................32

Violet...............................................................................................................................................32

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Lindsay.............................................................................................................................................32

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................33

Stacey..............................................................................................................................................33

Stacey..............................................................................................................................................33

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................33

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................34

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................34

Edwina.............................................................................................................................................34

Kathryn............................................................................................................................................34

Lindsay.............................................................................................................................................35

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Transcript

VOTE CHOICE STORY

I: Thank you guys for coming on Sunday morning, we really appreciate your time, and for coming back as well. A few things before we start, we're not having you sign the consent form again because you signed at the first one and it still covers you, so all the same ingredients still apply. The other thing I want to say, when it comes to elections some people are going to be happy with the result, some people are going to be sad with the result and I know for some people it can be quite emotional. I've always been a lifelong democrat and I remember the republican revolution in 1994 and when everything collapsed, or when Barack Obama won, so people can get quite emotional or can be very emotional about how the election outcome is, and so if you're really happy about it or pleased with it, we want to know that for the data. Also, if you're upset we want to know that, but if you're angry because of the result or there's something you want to say, it's better if you say it to me as the moderator instead of to the person. If you feel there's a comment you want to make you can always make it to me and I'll make eye contact with you and then you don't have to address it to any one person. I don't think it will be so much of a problem here; in Dundee it got a little bit heated. But they're Scottish, and because of the referendum they're still used to arguing with each other in the pub. But as a good caveat, as a good rule, you can always say to me anything in terms of how you felt about the reaction. So, what we're going to discuss today is how your day of voting was and also your memories of it, if you stayed up and watched and how you felt about the reaction. Then we're going to discuss a little bit about what you think is going to happen policy wise, or the things that you're going to be paying attention to with the current government and policies that you're going to be watching for. We also want to be talking a little bit about the election itself and your experience of it, if it was fair and well run, and then we want to talk a little bit about the idea, not about the EU referendum per se, because that's a whole other study which we want to get separate funding for, but just the idea of referenda in terms of British politics in referenda, because it's not generally been the case where, say, in the western states of America you've got 15 different propositions every

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time you go to vote. Here, it's not generally been the practice to put referenda to the people and yet in the last couple of years there have been... now will be third since the AV referendum. So, just your impressions of referenda generally. The easy bit, yeah, your election day. What we're looking for is just the story. If you decided to vote long before and who you decided to vote for and why, your experience on the day , if it was easy to vote or if you had to queue, then if you went home and watched the news or if you just thought "I'm going to go to bed," and then when you did see the results, your reactions, and then we will pick up with the policy part of it in the next round. So Lindsay, would you be willing to start us off with the story of your election?

Lindsay: It was pretty dull. It was a work day, a busy work day. We were talking about it in the office. One of my colleagues, he's a Labour councillor so it was something we talked about. Went and voted in the evening, heard the exit poll, thought, "oh that's nonsense; nobody's said that before!" and went to bed peacefully.

I: Then you woke up the next day.

Lindsay: Woke up the next day, that was a pity, really.

I: And you saw the exit poll, and it wasn't just the exit poll, it was the result.

Lindsay: The result was pretty clear fairly early on, yeah.

I: Any your reaction to it was?

Lindsay: I was sorry of course they lost Bob Russell, he's been a good MP. It's not my party but it doesn't make any difference; if someone does a good job you do respect that and you're sorry if they don't thrive. That's it really.

I: Thanks. Violet, how about you?

Violet: I hadn't decided who I was going to vote for, and in fact I was still in the booth, I was one of the last after work, it was about 9.30 pm, and I still spent some time in the booth weighing it up. We had been following the election throughout the day, because we have quite a politically interested office so we had been following the news. We had already decided a couple of days ago that it was going to be a Conservative majority, because we were following the bookies, not the polls, because the bookies tend to be

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more switched on about where it's going to go, and we were just talking politically where the different parties were and who captured people. As I say, my vote, yes, not necessarily the most politically charged vote. I really did decide on the basis of quite random factors, actually. The most exciting thing about the day for me was the hashtag dogs at polling stations and the Twitter thing that was going around, and then woke up the next day, didn't stay up to watch it, because I think it had already been decided by... It was like "I'll just wake up early; I've got to get up at 6.00 anyway and see." So it wasn't a surprise. I think like the lady, I'm not in Colchester but I felt sorry for the Lib Dems. It was quite exciting in some ways, particularly in the way that... I mean next day was almost more exciting when you saw the different leaders topple and some of the heavyweights had gone out. I'm quite excited to see how the different parties now start to reform themselves and grasp their identity, but I did feel sorry for some of them. Take Bob Russell, for example, who has almost been a victim of his party rather than actually what he has done locally.

I: I forgot to ask, we want to ask everybody what did you end up voting for and why? I didn't have a chance to ask you, Lindsay, so if you feel comfortable letting us know.

Lindsay: I voted Labour, because I saw a lot of people who had a really grim time with austerity.

I: And Violet, when you said random factors. I'm kind of curious now, what are those random factors and which way did you vote?

Violet: During the election day I still hadn't decided. I'm quite unusual in the sense that I'm feeling a bit apathetic, because it's the first time I've been in this area and been in a seat that's so ridiculously safe that it made me feel a bit more... "it doesn't matter; even if I support the party that's in the majority they're still going to get it." So I feel a bit indifferent about it. So I even did some of those quizzes you can do online, 3 different ones to see what they told me that I would vote for, 3 different parties. So I voted Lib Dem, never voted Lib Dem before, I think they were the second biggest party. I actually felt a bit sorry for them, and that's not a sane reason to vote, and they were actually the party I decided probably fitted. I would like to see an American Liberal Democrat party in the UK, that's where I sit, and there's nothing that kind of crosses that gap at the moment. I thought

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"oh, this doesn't matter anyway." I just crossed... At one point I wasn't going to vote for anybody and spoil my ballot paper, and I just couldn't quite bring myself to do that.

I: So like "no, it's too valuable; I need to do something with it," kind of thing.

Violet: Yeah.

I: Patrick, the story or your election day, how you decided to vote, when you decided to vote, in terms of your party choice and then actually going to the polls, and that experience and then if you stayed up to watch the results, or not, and how you felt about them?

Patrick: Okay. I didn't vote until really late; I think I voted at 9.45pm. I wasn't going to vote, and I figured I probably should do. There's this thing on Facebook where people put if they voted or not, and loads of people didn't so I thought socially I felt like I had to do it...

I: Peer pressure!

Patrick: I felt really peer pressured. I also wanted to put something up on Facebook. On the day I was dithering for awhile. Because I live in Colchester constituency I wanted to vote for Labour, but I knew that I probably should vote for Bob Russell. On the day I just voted for Labour because... I don't know, I don't like the idea that I have to change my voting preference because their system's messed up. Sorry, I'm kind of getting angry but...

I: That's okay.

Patrick: So I voted Labour on the day. And then I was feeling quite happy, and then I saw the exit poll coming in and things went downhill from there. I saw the first few results, I think at 2 o'clock, and then I went to bed. I woke up in the morning and I was kind of disappointed, but that's just democracy, isn't it?

I: There's always another election, that's the best thing about democracy, there's always another election. Also, if you win you're like, "be careful, because there's always another election." Matthew, how about you?

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Matthew: My intention was to vote when I was taking my children to school but I found out it was a different polling station to the one they'd used for the 6 or 7. So I didn't do that. I went to school discussing it with my seven year old, which was quite interesting. As I'm a stay at home dad much of my conversations are with a 7 and 3 year old, so it's quite an interesting view of the... So I didn't have an office to discuss it in or anything like that. The morning and most of the day I was still torn between voting for the party that I wanted to vote for but I knew wouldn't win or to vote tactically to keep somebody else out, and I guess I decided half an hour or so before that it was pointless voting tactically so I should vote for the party that I wanted to win. So my wife came as well, the four of us went and voted at about 6 in the evening. The children were most disappointed that it was in and out in 10 seconds. I think they were expecting...

I: Magic rainbows or something.

Matthew: Yes. And I voted Green.

I: And then you guys went home...

Matthew: Went home, started watching the television, then the exit polls came on, and they're never wrong, are they?

I: Not by much...

Matthew: Not normally that far out. So, I decided to go to bed. I woke up early-ish and thought I'd follow what was happening on Twitter, so I picked up Twitter from about midnight and followed it that way. So I kind of got it as it happened, if you like, and then it was the bad bit, disappointment. I had the television on for the rest of the day, which was quite exciting, because it was probably more exciting than... with all the resignations and such like.

I: All the changes and everything. You found us. We're just telling stories about the election day, we'll come to you at the end, no problems. So then you watched the resignations and found that a bit more exciting than...

Matthew: My seven year old cheered when the Caroline Lucas result came in. She had obviously been listening to what we were talking about on our way to school.

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I: That's good. We'll skip you and go to Stacey. So your election day, your choices and how it went.

Stacey: I was actually working an evening shift and so I went to vote in the morning, I actually went for a walk with my boyfriend and we incorporated a visit to the polling station in the walk. We had kind of discussed it a bit beforehand. He actually votes in a different constituency from me so it was just me actually going into the polling station and voting. I was kind of undecided until the day exactly how I was going to vote. Naturally I'm kind of a Lib Dem voter, it just fits best with my priorities in life, but I was kind of torn between voting Lib Dem and Conservative, because I knew we had a UKIP candidate in our constituency who was reasonably...had a fair chance of winning. So, in the end I decided to go Lib Dem because I wanted to, and went to work in the evening. I didn't really, I kind of had a look at bits of news from work but I didn't stay up when I went home; I just went to bed.

I: What time did you finish work?

Stacey: I finish at 10 and I got home about 10.45pm, so I just went to bed. Woke up the following morning and was fairly shocked actually when I heard the news about Bob Russell. He's not my MP but I've always thought that he was a fairly safe Lib Dem seat though. So, yeah, shocked really.

I: I think we've got 3 people in the Clacton area, so we're very excited because ...

Kathryn: Sorry!

I: No, no, it's a ways and if you haven't been on the campus before, so we're just really pleased...

Kathryn: Sorry, there's only one bus in the morning so I couldn't get in any earlier, so sorry to keep you waiting.

I: We've just been telling the story of the election day, so it's perfect, it worked out well, so yeah. Diane?

Diane: I had a lovely day, because our school was a polling station as well, so it was going to be a "girly Monday." The plan was that my husband and I were going to vote in the evening, which is what we went and did. I was still a bit unsure who I would vote for, although I had a fairly good idea. We

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went to vote, it was quite amazing, because we live in a village and the people that you see, who I've never even seen before, and we've lived there for 11 years and my husband has lived there all his life, so that was quite an eye opener. We went to vote, I voted for Conservative, and then the excitement, I suppose, builds up during the evening, and I thought...It got to 10 o'clock and I thought, "No I'm going to go to bed because nothing's going to happen," and I did wake up in the night and the feeling that I felt, which is really bizarre, is if you know that someone has gone into labour and you're sort of thinking, "oh I wonder if they've had it yet!" It's crazy but that's how I kind of felt at the time. So obviously when I got up in the morning and saw the results I was quite happy. But again, Bob Russell, I think that's a real shame.

I: So even though he's not in your party you still feel a little bit of like...

Diane: Because he's been in the post for so many years, he's done a good job, and then when he did an interview on TV and they said "obviously you're disappointed, you look disappointed," of course he is, the poor guy! So that was a bit... yeah, I did feel for him.

I: Is that right, Kathryn and Edwina?

Kathryn: Yeah.

I: So, Kathryn, how about for you two and the day of the election? Did you know how you were going to vote when you went in? How your experience was? Did you end up voting for who you thought you would? Did you see the results? When did you see it and how did you feel about it when it came in?

Kathryn: That's a lot of questions! [laughter]

I: Well, if you're just on the phone with someone and they said "oh, how was your election?" that's the kind of thing we're looking for.

Kathryn: I did vote for who I planned to vote for.

I: Can you say who it was?

Kathryn: It was Labour. We discussed at the last focus group, we were saying about voting tactically, so I wasn't voting Labour, I was voting anti

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Conservative and anti UKIP when I was doing it, which obviously worked well! It was almost exactly what I said to you at the focus group, checked out the poll shortly before, because leading up to the election it can vary so much, and it was showing... obviously the polls were proving right and accurate this time, it was showing very close between Conservative and Labour. So it was a tactical vote, really. I was pleased that it ended up being not UKIP, which would have been my least favourite, and I was not surprised because I thought the majority that the Conservatives got would be due to the fact that the people are so anti the coalition. It hadn't worked very well, a lot of back biting, fighting, it wasn't an effective way of running the country, which is why I think it's such a change from the last election. In terms of the election day, it was just voting in the local area, because I used to work for the local authority so I've got friends there, so I ended up catching up with their gossip! In terms of the results, I didn't see that because I was working, I didn't see that until quite later. I was disappointed obviously, but it wasn't the worse outcome for me, so.

I: Your perception is that with the coalition you think people saw through the Conservatives because they were tired of a coalition?

Kathryn: Not just the Conservatives. I mean in the local area they had a higher turnout than they were expecting, in Tendring, and I think a lot of the higher turnout in the election has been the fact that people were so frustrated with how badly the coalition worked that they all voted for a political party, stronger than they might have done. It does surprise me a little bit that UKIP has been... you know, it's the only place, so it obviously varies in reflection and in values of the community. So that worries me slightly. But the fact that he's...it's quite surprising how much his majority has grown

I: Thanks for that.

Edwina: I voted, as I said before in the focus group, Conservative. Because the polls that they had was having neck and neck Conservative and Labour, we didn't really know how it was going to turn out, and everybody thought there would be a coalition so it was a surprise that Conservatives had the majority, even though it was a small majority of 12. We got, as my daughter was saying, we got a UKIP politician in, and he had a smaller majority, I think he had 12,000 the last time at the by-election, it was about 3,500,

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between the two, over 19,000, and the Conservatives had 16,500, so it was a small majority, and he's the only UKIP in the country.

I: Who was returned.

Edwina: There's been a lot of people resigning. Obviously Miliband resigned and Clegg resigned and then Nigel Farage resigned and then he came back after 3 days, which is a bit odd, because obviously if you don't get voted in in your constituency then normally you just resign as leader. So that's a bit odd.

I: He might be going again, we're a bit confused by the news... Last night I think he said that he might be going again but we don't know.

Edwina: I haven't seen that. He has been fighting with his MP because they want him to take 6500 for 15 people to help him as MP in parliament because that's what is allocated, and he wants to have 350,000 and 4 for 5 people to help him, because he is just a single MP. Obviously he is an experienced MP because he was a Conservative, so he should know exactly what... and UKIP is all in for "having their snouts in the trough" sort of thing, taking all this money from Europe, coming out of Europe, all this money being wasted that's supposedly that will pay MEPs, and Nigel Farage, MEP. So it seems a bit odd, so there's a bit of in fighting there. They also think that he should go, Nigel Farage, and they should have a proper election. But I don't think they have got anybody that really can take his place; I don't know if they have.

TO WHICH POLICIES WILL YOU PAY ATTENTION?

I: Perfect. Thank you guys so much. So, the next question is, we want to know, with the new government and the majority, we want to know if there's policies, or politics in particular, or any other issues that you're going to be watching or paying attention to in the coming weeks and months. So Diane, if we can start. You don't have to have an opinion on these kind of things but if there are particular things that you're going to be watching for.

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Diane: I'm a bit worried about the budget they have announced, because in some ways you're thinking what is this is going to mean, in a bad way. But I think then on the other hand perhaps they need to start bringing things in earlier. So initially your thought is does that mean that I'm going to be losing money one way or another. But the things for me really are all about education, national health and what I've got in my pocket at the end of the day, really. So they're the key issues for me.

Stacey: Similarly actually, education, national health service, and also Europe.

I: The referendum and Europe policies?

Stacey: Yes.

I: Kathryn, can I ask you?

Kathryn: I think the side effects of them being voted in so strongly is that they then perceive that, and obviously probably in part it is that, that they have got a strong backing for whatever they have set out they're going to do and things that they wanted to do that might not have been palatable to show before the election. So they feel they've supported to bring in very strident changes, things that other parties were talking about. That concerns me, because obviously that's not the values that I would be interested in and things like budgets and things like that, things that they wouldn't have got away with bringing out or talking about before the election, they now think 'we're safe.' And also, I'm not sure if the democratic process works having it in the 4 years. Obviously the party needs the time to carry out the things that they're doing, but I think there's an element of...the year up to an election there's a big run on promises and visibility and action being taken suddenly and things that I perceive that they hold off doing to right before the election when they can have a bit of good publicity, but they don't bring out earlier things that they've achieved or what have you. Then after the election now they're safe, as it were, for 4 years, they're going to bring in the policies swiftly, which are going to be quite 25:05 for some of the things, and they don't have to really answer to the public for quite a long period of time afterwards. So just generally there are things concerning, locally and things like cuts and bus services and things like that, and Europe as well, the fact that they're anti Europe

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does worry me, because before when David Cameron was discussing Europe and there was a lot of sabre rattling, you know, and he was making himself unpopular at conferences in the EU and things like that, I'm not sure we're in a strong economic position to go against Europe. I'm not sure it will be in our interest to come out of Europe. We don't export a lot of things, we're not in the manufacturing position we were before and things like that. So that worries me that they were riding on the coat tails of something that UKIP was very strong on due to the popularity of UKIP and now they're going to follow through on that because they think that's what people want. And maybe that is what some people want but I don't think it's going to be in our interest, particularly when we're not in a great economic position, we haven't really recovered. So yeah, quite concerned but there's not a lot you can do about it at the moment.

I: When you're done with your paperwork, Edwina has just a good idea just to throw it on the floor so it's not on your lap. Don't feel that you've to keep it on your lap. Policies and concerns?

Edwina: The main concern that I'm thinking of is the welfare cuts. We don't know what they're yet so we'll have to wait and see, maybe they'll come later on, depending on what his plan is for different things. He's now "getting into bed," as it were, with Scotland. They want lots of concessions and I think in the end they'll want to leave, they'll want a referendum, and I think that will come at some stage, because they'll want more and more from him, and it depends on how strong Cameron is to stand up for those, because he has only got 12 as a majority and if some of those MPs leave his majority will be smaller and he will have more difficulty getting policies through in the Commons. Immigration is also a big issue and with Europe it's quite difficult to change things because they want to have a free flow of people coming into the country. They don't want any border control. But the problem that we're mainly concerned about, like other countries, is terrorism and too many people coming in, taking benefits and what have you, supposedly. We'll have to wait and see what happens, really.

I: Thank you. Matthew, politics or policies that you're going to keep an eye on?

Matthew: They're kind of the complete opposite of my views, so all of it really. I think it's just going to be another 4 or 5 years of people struggling,

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being worried about what they'll cut next, worried about the NHS, education, some of their choices of ministers who obviously were disposed of, shall we say, with Liberals there, like Gove28:46, who's now back in again. A Minister for Equality that doesn't agree with gay marriage seems an odd one. So all of it, really.

I: Okay. Patrick?

Patrick: The European Union, for me it's quite important. Housing as well, I think is quite important, and also the ?? terrifies me, and the Human Rights Act as well is quite important to me.

I: You'll be keeping your eye on those?

Patrick: Yeah, things that generally terrify me.

I: Thank you, appreciate it. Violet, how about you?

Violet: Quite a few things. I'll try and be really quick.

I: Top five.

Violet: Devolution, I think is going to be a huge thing.

I: Do you think in particular with Scotland or....

Violet: Generally, if I was predicting, I think he will be do... not quite as overtly as this, but I think he will do a deal with the SNP, where you have Scottish votes for Scottish people and English votes for English MPs, which will then actually give the Conservatives a huge majority in parliament, and then they do a deal to say 'you get increased powers to the devolved areas if you deal with un-national things.' So that gives his mandate both nationally and locally. There's a general point about how I will be interested in watching anything about how the policies will shift quite far right. I'm thinking not just what will be the sugar coated short term implications but the medium term implications, because I have a belief that always this will be true, that a lot of Conservative policies result in like a medium term or a long term thing where... in terms of local services, if you can pay for something you can get it better, but actually if you can't then a lot of people end up with just what they can get locally, and I think things start to get divided up that way. Not always through privatisation but just

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in the way things become more restricted. My third issue is housing; I would actually see people get on with building more houses and make that commitment. I don't think they will but I think whoever had been in parliament, I think that's a think that nobody is addressing, for all sort of reasons to do with the economy and what it will do to house prices. What's the fourth one, I can't remember. But just a general narrative on the economy, because I think lay people have been a bit misled, because there's been three different facts in the economy about who's being blamed for what and the difference between spending deficit and the financial crisis and they've all been merged into one narrative and they're not necessarily the same thing, and I'm going to pay more attention to that this year, because I hate misinformation.

I:Thanks. Lindsay?

Lindsay: Yes, it's not just the Equality Minister that seems to be an odd choice, the person who's in charge of disability voted against disability benefits for children, which worries me. Disability is a big issue for me. Within hours of the election they issued the review of the proposals regarding disability benefits, and I'm a disability advisor and I get to see what these things mean. Very worried about Scotland, well, not just Scotland, the now United Kingdom. What happens if there is a referendum and they vote to stay in Europe and England votes to come out? I hope they don't, I hope it doesn't vote to come out. I think we'd be a real mess without the EU. I'm worried about the persisting austerity; I recognise it has got a small majority but it's fairly vigorous, or vociferous. We'll see what happens.

VIEWS ON SCOTTISH ELECTION RESULTSI: Is it okay if focus on the question on Scotland, because people brought it up? We are wondering, we're asking this all around the country, with the SNP returning 56 members of parliament, we're interested in your perceptions of what message the people of Scotland were sending with that and how you perceive it in England, and the SNP itself. So again, this may not be something that everyone has an opinion on but if you do we're interested in your perceptions of what you think the people of Scotland

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were voting for when they sent 56 MPs, or will be sending 56 MPs, down to Westminster and what that means. Patrick?

Patrick: Yeah, I think it's really exciting. I find the SNP to be a really exciting alternative. They've got some really, really bright colourful characters, some of their MPs are like... people who can talk about Nigel Farage but don't have politics, which I don't really agree with but I think that's really, really exciting. I'm hoping that Labour can learn from them and try to become a little more dynamic, more interesting. So I think it's quite exciting. I don't really buy into this whole people sending us a message, because even if you look at the amount of people who voted for the SNP, because of the way we vote in this country maybe they've got 33.1% Labour constituencies, I don't feel like it's every Scottish person getting together and sending a direct message. I don't really buy into that. I think that it's more of a media spin, personally. Sorry.

I: You don't have to apologise for your opinions. We're paying you for them. Anyone else on the SNP? Violet?

Violet: I'm excited for Scotland. I think they're after more of an identity and that's the message that they've sent. I think they felt tagged onto Westminster parties before and they had the revolution... the referendum, sorry, and it was 50/ 50. They've got to have their own identity, whether that's separated, I think that becomes a different thing, but I think that Scotland feels , very far away from London and the Westminster environment in general, and of course I'm aware that whilst I'd be authoritative and go "well, you don't break up with me," I think if I was in Scotland I'd be thinking "no, I want this identity. Listen to me more." They've always had a slightly different political make-up, "pay more attention to us, don't just lump us on into somewhere else. We're here."

Kathryn: I think I've definitely got to agree with Violet. If I was in Scotland I probably would be voting for SNP. In the last focus groups we touched on didn't we, a lot of the leaders and that Nicola Sturgeon came across as an incredible leader and very authentic, whereas almost all of the other party leaders, I felt, and other people in the group felt they didn't come across authentically. They've been coached and things like that and that sort of falseness was not helping them, and that's proved it doesn't help them. I'm not sure whether they're sending a message in terms of "we'll be taking

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over something," that sort of thing, but obviously it was, I think, probably higher when they did do the referendum than they were expecting. It was very close run. I'm very glad that they haven't left, and I think it's a very interesting point that you raised about if they do decide to stay in Europe and we decide to go, because particularly in this area, votes are being cast in an anti Europe kind of way. So I think that would be a real shame. I think part of it is the policies that SNP have and things that they have in Scotland, like no prescription charges, things that would be popular here that they seem to ...it's a perception, but there are things that seem to be run a lot better there, things that we don't seem to be able to manage or aren't managing at the moment, and I think that probably helps. People then feel more positive about the people that are ruling. So yeah, I think it's definitely interesting. And I think, as Violet was saying, there's going to be a lot of manoeuvring about the politicians wanting to get SNP on side and things like that, and making deals with...and how that's going to affect us. I hope that doesn't affect anyone negatively. But again, I agree Labour should be taking tips from them in terms of how to operate and authenticity and things like that.

I: Anyone else want to come in on the SNP and think they're trying for big changes?

ROLE OF THE SNP ON GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS I2: It's also okay to have a negative opinion, you don't have to have a positive opinion. [laughter] Can I just add onto the question on the SNP? Just looking back on the election, how many of you had an impression that the SNP played a part in people's choice for whom they voted down in England?

I: By a show of hands. 5, okay (Lindsay, Violet, Patrick, Stacey & Diane raise their hands)

I2: Would you mind elaborating on what kind of impression you think it was?

Lindsay: The SNP were the big bogey man. The way the Conservatives were talking about the SNP and Labour, it was almost as if they were saying the SNP is a bad thing, which is going to be interesting for them now,

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having given that impression. But I think a lot of people were talking as if they didn't know who would be governing the country if the SNP got in in Scotland.

I: Diane?

Diane: Pretty much what Lindsay was saying. For me personally, the outcome of the votes, I think, was best, not just because of the Conservatives side but with the SNP, because I feel that Scotland have got their voice. I don't think it would ever have been a good thing for them to leave the UK. So I just feel they're happy, they've got their voice but we're all still together. It couldn't have been a better result, I think, really.

Edwina: I think what will happen, probably there may be something like in Wales or Northern Ireland, they do something the same saying, "Oh look, this is what Scotland have done." So that may be a bit of a concern. They obviously would have to have strong politicians in those areas. But I think maybe they'll think "oh, if they can to and see Cameron and try to strike a deal, maybe we should do something similar to what they're doing." It will be interesting to see what happens, really.

I: Yes, it will.

Stacey: I actually know a couple of people who voted Conservative because they were worried about the whole Labour/SNP possible coalition, and I think the Conservatives did play a lot on that, almost unfairly, in the run up to the election.

EFFECTS OF POLLS ON VOTINGEdwina: But the polls were wrong, weren't they? They said they didn't understand why the polls were saying that they were neck and neck when they weren't. So they've got to investigate that, why they were so out. They said it was something to do with Labour, how they calculated...that's why they were seen neck and neck...

I: The British Polling Council...

Edwina: The polling, yeah, because there's something ... So we were, the public, as it were, were getting a certain impression and therefore fear was put into us, I suppose, about what was going to happen, who was going to

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go with who and who wasn't going to go with who, because we weren't getting the right statistics out.

Kathryn: The polls are normally much more accurate, aren't they, traditionally?

I: Because they're based on actual....

Edwina: It was a surprise, wasn't it, that they actually...they didn't expect to win it. Cameron seemed to sort of flag and then he was pumped up, wasn't he?

I: How many of you were using the polls to make voting choices? I know some of you voted expressively but you were like using the polling information to help you make up your mind? (Edwina and Kathryn raise their hands)

Kathryn: Yes, because I was voting tactically rather than for someone.

I: For some people, because that's something we've pickup up, because some people said "well, if I'd known that it would go this way then in my constituency I might have voted differently." One of the things that we want to pick up is this idea that people do use the polls to make their calculations, so when the polls are off it's not just about margin of error but people might of actually have changed their votes based on more accurate information if it was available. Patrick, you're nodding your head too on that?

Patrick: Yeah.

Lindsay: Like you said, you voted for the party you choose because you didn't think it would make a difference. Didn't you?

Matthew: Me? Yes, but I didn't expect Bob Russell to be beaten by 42:29

I: I sort of likened it to a political earthquake between Scotland and the Lib Dems, and the UKIP being up 4million and Labour being down, it's like wow!

Kathryn: It is really recent, isn't it, UKIP is so recent. I remember Nigel Farage and things like 42:46 when he first joined, and he used to be a joke, he used to be a bit of a Boris Johnson but without any political clout.

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Edwina: Going to the pub.

Kathryn: Before that, and nobody knew who he was. It's just their popularity is just recent.

ON THE ELECTORAL PROCESSI2: We've probably mentioned it in the pre election focus groups that we are working with the Electoral Commission to find out what people's experiences were with various processes of the election. So we have asked you about if anybody has used the new registration system, for example, in the pre election focus group. In the post election one we want to know is your experience of how the election was run. So any of the processes. If you've done a postal vote, what experience was that like. If you went in and voted, how was that, did you find that everything ran smoothly, that it was well run or would you like to flag up any issues that you made a mental note of and you don't really have anybody to really tell about it, so you can tell us now if there was anything. Obviously they're not talking about the proportional representation, because the Electoral Commission can't do anything about that, but in terms of how the election was run, so when you went into the polling station was there anything that maybe struck you as weird, or in terms of the count? So, say if you were at any of the counts, if there was anything. Just a question, if you want to raise anything.

Diane: My voting was really straightforward, because I've lived at the same address for years and nothing had changed. Everything was well organised, everything was fine. The only I thought was really strange is that you didn't have to take your card with you. I'm not saying that anyone would want to pretend that they're me, and you only get one vote anyhow, but that just didn't seem quite right for something that's so important.

I2: We have had that a lot as well in the other groups, people going "if I have to go to the bank I need ID. This is so important. I can just go in, give my name and address and I'm allowed to vote."

Patrick: My card never arrived so I'm really, really 45:10. [laughter] I don't know what happened, I think it might be because I live in university accommodation. But when I put my details into the postcode thing it couldn't find where I lived. So I gave my name and we were looking down

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the entire list of names, found me eventually, but I kind of thought that system has a bug bear for me.

I: Can you explain that a little bit more? So when you went in they said they couldn't find you and you said you were on the register, it took a little while and they had to make an extra effort?

Patrick: I think it was online. You know when you use the online system to register, I put my postcode in and they couldn't find my flat, for some reason. So that means when I went in and they said "where do you live?" we had to look through everything in my postcode, the student accommodation, those kind of people. That was the only small bug.

Edwina: I just went to the polling booth, got the cards. When we had the by-election we got two sets of cards, for some reason, sent. I don't know why that was. But we both just got the one sent this time. It was pretty straightforward. The only thing was, though we knew all about the politicians, parliament, for the council, though we got lots of literature through for all the representatives for all the different parties for parliament, we didn't get much for the council elections. I think we only had two for the Independents but nothing about the ...there seemed to be a lack of interest in that area, and there's a lot of infighting now about how it has tuned out. Labour not working with Conservatives and there's just one councillor above... Conservative above UKip, because UKip I think got 22 people in. But we didn't get a lot of information in that respect, so I don't know, though quite a lot in the other.

Lindsay: This is another thing, the first past the post system seems to be very unsatisfactory.

I2: It is unsatisfactory. A lot of our participants... But the Electoral Commission can't do anything about it.

WAS THE ELECTION FAIR?

I: That's a constitutional change so... It's more about some people have been voting in pencil and they're just like "why, why not pen?" or things like this, or problems at the count, or not. But generally, if you feel that the election

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was well run, fair, and they were doing a good job administratively, but obviously there are things like some people not getting their polling cards or...

Kathryn: Definitely, like Patrick was saying, that would have really bothered me if that would have been the case where you would have had to have... I totally understand what you were saying about having the card, and I agree with you, but that troubles me because if people... It seems like where they have the same situation and you've not moved address and you've got maybe an accessible polling station, then you've not had a problem, but maybe where people have gone into different accommodation for short term, university accommodation or things like that, if they've not been able to vote. I didn't see it so much for this election but I know the previous election I remember afterwards there was some polling stations in London that they only had allowed until 10pm at night, and because they hadn't been processing people quickly enough, people were left outside and couldn't vote . If that was me and that was the only time that I could vote, because of my work or what have you, that would have really annoyed me. I would have felt that was against my rights and something that was manageable. I didn't see anything like that this time. I've actually been... where I've worked in the local authority they do... I was going to say they do ask you, they almost make you, because they need the volunteers, basically. So almost all council employees do have to be involved in the process of counting the votes, either at polling stations. They ask for volunteers but each department is supposed to bring people forward. So I've done that. I've seen both sides of it and some of the things surprise me, like the volume of postal votes that are actually spoiled, and not intentionally spoiled. It is quite surprising that people do it. I think it's obviously difficult because you've only got the person's details and you try to see if the vote can be considered, and you're looking at that and they refer those, but from the handwriting and given the demographic, I would say it's quite elderly people that are doing it. The amount of people in families and things that put it in the wrong envelopes, I don't know if they're doing it at the breakfast tables. It's quite surprising, it's quite actually quite high, the amount of spoiled votes. So it's interesting to see that side of it. You think people go to all that effort of doing the vote and then it's spoiled. So yeah, counting postal votes and things. But it tends to

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run quite smoothly, having seen that side of it. You have the councillors stand and loom over the people counting, which is very off putting when you're doing it, because obviously they're watching to see if anything is going wrong, but it's very...if they stand there, for sort of two hours....And sometimes they can be quite rude. I remember once they had a recount. I'm not sure if it was Douglas Carswell, but they had a recount in Clacton that one of my colleagues attended, and it went late into the evening and they were supposed to do it. He insisted on a recount and he insisted on a second recount, keeping the people there, which was against what the chief executive of the time wanted to do, and the second recount he actually lost more votes and then he wanted another recount, and they said "no, you've kept these people long enough." So it didn't benefit. It's interesting, I don't think we have quite caught up with the technology process, like Patrick was saying, so you can vote.

Edwina: Taking up what you were saying about spoiled votes and maybe elderly people issues, where you seem to think possibly that would be some aspect. Maybe they need to find out how people vote, whether they want large print or whether there's any way they can improve the way that people vote. To find out, actually, would be quite good. Age Concern or whatever, do some research to try and find out so that perhaps people thinking that their voting is okay and not realising that perhaps...and try to cut down the amount of spoiled votes.

Kathryn: Or people not having...being there, that should be investigated, if someone is trying to be there and can't find their address...

Edwina: Because a lot of people don't want to be on the Electoral Register do they? That's another aspect.

I: Checking into the large print, as I'm getting older and having to do this more and more, I'm getting a lot more empathy with that process, and with an aging population...

Edwina: Especially where we are, in our area, supposedly there's going to be more elderly people.

I: This is only going to continue

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Edwina: Yes. And perhaps with disabilities, maybe they can't sort of...I think that probably needs to be...

I: We'll raise that.

Edwina: I think there's a lot of blind and deaf people coming into the area, so maybe... I mean, I don't know whether they have problems with the voting. We haven't heard actually about that sort of thing. But as they know that possibly more older people do generally vote, so it's in the interest of the politicians, really.

OPINIONS ON REFERENDUMS

I: We're actually up to our last question. The referendum question is the last question. We don't want to talk about being in or out of Europe, because if they have a referendum on Europe we want to get a separate study going to get your opinions. But as I was saying, the UK, it's not traditionally been a nation where you get a referendum every couple of years and yet in the last few you've had the AV referendum, the Scots have had their Independence Referendum and now there's going to be a referendum on Europe. We're wondering what you think about referendums, or referenda, I prefer referenda, in general? Do you like the option to have these national debates? Do you think it's the job of the politicians to make these decisions? Do you think that they're okay but only on certain issues? Just anyone's thoughts on being asked to make these decisions.

Edwina: We need to have the truth, really, because you're told one thing from one and one from the other because of how they want you to vote. I think it's very difficult for people to have an independent analysis of what the pros and cons are. Who are we going to trade with if we do pull out of Europe etc., and I think that we need more independent people to give us that sort of aspect. I was saying before, because I listen to Radio 4, if there is something coming up to election that the politicians are ...they tend to say "is this true what these numbers are saying about this or that?" and they tend to give you an unbiased opinion, which helps really, but I think we need more of that rather that have somebody tell us what we want us to

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hear because they want us to vote a certain way. It's fear really, isn't it, mainly? There's some that say well if you go out this will happen or that will happen. I think that's what we need. I don't know what other people think but that's how I feel.

Matthew: I would go along with that, a non-party political broadcast.

Diane: No one has a crystal ball, no one can actually say this is what will happen, but to have an honest view so that you can make an informed decision, really, because it's important that you do have a choice but you need to know reality rather than what they think you want to hear.

Matthew: I think that would be the case whether it was the EU or any referendum or whatever the vote was for.

I2: Is there any organisation that you have in mind that could do this? Obviously if it's non-party political it can't be a political party

Matthew: Doesn't the university have quite a good political department? They're quite well thought of.

I2: So you would like university...

Matthew: Yes, possibly academics as opposed to politicians.

Kathryn: Yeah, and they would give reasoned view...

Matthew: Is this what you study here? I can tell by the way you're reacting! [laughter]

Edwina: I like having the radio, when I'm cooking I'm listening, where perhaps it's not a riveting thing, is it, if you're watching the TV? People want to watch different programmes. But you can listen to what people say and perhaps take it in more rather than sitting through a programme.

Matthew: And then a student type of view, it's good for some things and bad for others, but if you follow the right people on social media you can get an unbiased opinion. So rather than following the political parties there are academics and such like on there that give you unbiased opinions.

Edwina: Intellectuals.

Edwina: Yeah, experts in their field who haven't got a biased...

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Patrick: It doesn't have to be academics, it doesn't have to be really in-depth high quality information. I felt a lot of time in referendums and politics generally get the basics wrong, so there are really, really basic preconceptions to be outlined, and me being a horrible radical student, I would say that should be part of the registration process, five or ten key facts, key things, key things that people are getting wrong, you probably should go through them. The idea that Eastern European migrants 58:05 and benefit straightaway, which is wrong, as in factually wrong, you don't even have to ?? should be part of that process.

I: Is there a primitive fact here where people can check politicians, a website that you can go and someone makes a claim and they go to an expert and they say if it's mostly false, or partly false, or partly true or completely true? I don't know that that exists.

Kathryn: It would be good if you had...so much is weighted towards spin now and so much of it is weighted towards having...as you say, it's not always accurate and they play on things like we were discussing earlier, they play on fears and things, leading up to an election. That would be really useful if you then had "here's our interlude with the actual truth!" If they knew that would that then affect the messages that they're coming out with?

Patrick: That was what the Jeremy Paxman interview and the debates were supposed to be.

Kathryn: Yeah, but if they agreed to do that. I was reading about Andrew Neale shortly before the election, and he said that politicians won't sit down with him, the key politicians are afraid of him, Ed Miliband, Cameron is afraid of him, and you think, "it's not like he's going to have you under interrogation." But they are scared of being exposed to that sort of thing, and you would want people running the parties or running the country that aren't afraid of that debate. Paxman, in particular, as well, you do get a reasoned debate but that's just what they want to, they invite them and they're there, whereas maybe more of an ongoing thing where you've the actual truth about that week or whatever, rather than just interview with you know.

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Edwina: I was going to say, it's probably aggressive, that sort of thing, they fear that they're going to be tripped up, the politicians, with aggressive questioning.

Diane: It's like they're on trial or something , isn't it?

Edwina: Whereas I was not really wanting the aggressive questioning, as such, but the facts really, because whatever you say, they lie, don't they, or they don't tell you, they change the subject. If they say tell us about so and so, they go on and on and they repeat whatever they've just said, they won't tell you exactly what you want to hear.

Violet: Can I just get back to the referendum point. I think they're awesome, I love it, but I'm a sort of political activist so I will always go and vote. I mean, I would love it if I could click online and vote every day on what they're deciding on. But I think there's this balance between the turn out, in terms of if you have too many people just get a bit bored, and then how democratic can that be, but also the options and the question that you have and how the question is actually phrased, that in itself can be quite political. The Scotland one was a bit more straightforward, but I can't remember which one it was, but with the vote, the proportional representation, actually within that they said there should be more options or there should be more of a debate. But what they. ..I can't remember but it was a bit of an extreme, which kind of lent people towards saying "yes, you can change all of this completely," or "no, you can keep it how it is," and a lot of people actually saying "actually, no, if there was at least another way where we want a bit of reform but not necessarily the full hog." And I think that's another problem with referendums. And then politicians, depending on who's set the question, can use it as their mandate to take it off their political debate for the next 5 or 10 years, and I think that's...

I: The risk with them.

Lindsay: I certainly agree with that. Another thing is, you began by saying there's always another election. With a referendum you think it should be once and for all, so it seems bizarre that it's likely that Scotland have another referendum. They're expensive to run so do they just keep having another referendum until they get the answer that they want? It doesn't make sense.

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Kathryn: It's not that you would never want them to have it again, but it is a bit like it was so close that they think "well actually..., and particularly now that we've got MPs voted in we'll try again," and that's what I mean, it's like nothing is the final decision on it. Even for a period of years or something, it needs to be set at least for that. I think the fact that they're used for, just going back to your question, the major things like the EU and Scotland are what they should be used for. I think there's probably a danger that if you start bringing in referendums, as Violet was saying, it's going to dilute everything, the people wanting to vote, the power they think that gives. But I think, because they're such key issues, sometimes people might vote, like myself, tactically, or they vote for a party that has their values, that might have a different view on Europe or Scotland or something and want to vote for that as a separate issue.

I: Others on the use of referendum?

Stacey: I'm not always convinced that they're a good idea, because obviously people in a focus group like this will probably research facts and things, but there will be a lot of people that just make a decision based on nothing, no solid concrete facts at all, really, just on bits and pieces that they've heard, or chosen to hear. So I think it very much depends on the issue involved.

I: Would that be a concern for you?

Stacey: Yeah.

Matthew: I think this goes back to the misinformation. I was bored one afternoon, both my children were at school, and some more junk mail came through from Will Quince and I thought I'd have a look at all these people in Colchester who thought he was so wonderful, and 85% of them were active Conservatives, and the two that weren't, I couldn't find. So the chances are everybody on his leaflet who were local residents were all Conservatives members. So if you're a person that's easily influenced by a bit of literature, "oh look, they all think he's great; I'll vote for him." But they're going to say that, and I'm sure he's not the only one, I'm sure they all get their active party members to say these things. But the way it was presented was these were locals who thought he was great, but they weren't.

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Kathryn: Yeah, it's very misleading. I think there's a lot of that sort of thing. It's difficult, because if you start to have a mini quiz or something for another referendum there might be a slight drop off, but are you going to lose people who are prepared to spend 5 minutes making an informed decision, and things like Patrick was saying earlier about misinformation, the actual cold facts about something, actually this is what it is, and then make your decision. If you wanted you could incorporate that with a short video from people with opposing views, but at the start the bit you'd have to watch or have to view would be actual facts about the situation and then make a decision rather than, let's say, people just going "Oh, I've read that in the paper," and just making a decision off the top of their head about something that's really important.

I: It sounds like people are saying referendum on big issues, when it's a constitutional change or something that's really important to the country, like leaving the EU you do want a say on, you don't want to devolve everything to the politicians and then be stuck with their decisions. On the other hand, you'd also like to rely on something other than politicians for information about these kinds of decisions. You'd like to see some kind of independent body checking claims or putting out independent evidence that would allow you to cross reference, and also you would hope that your fellow citizens who didn't bother to vote would actually take the time to learn about it rather than going on instinct or just on word of mouth.

Edwina: I think there will be a problem about a turnout for a referendum. I think you'd have to incorporate it into something like a by-election or something, because I don't think you're going to get...I know by-elections aren't very high voting numbers, but I don't think people would just go out and vote for...

I: Only 20% of the population bothers to turn out...(over talking)

Edwina: A carrot and a stick. Because take 2007, I don't know when it will be but I think...

Kathryn: I don't know, I'm going to disagree with you there. As long as it's kept to things like the EU and Scotland that will have a massive impact on everyone. I think you will have, obviously not maybe as much or the size of an election, but I don't think you would necessarily need to combine it with

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Essex Post 1

a by-election, I do think there would be a strong turnout, because it's going to have massive coverage, it's going to have a huge impact and everybody is going to have a view on it even if they might not vote or they might not normally be very political. So I do think things like that, you would probably have a sufficient turn out. But then you're always going to get that problem, you're always going to get a certain amount of people not voting. You can encourage them as much as you can but you're only going to hit wall with so many people that will want to go and do it.

I: We're done. Thank you guys for coming in the pre, for coming in the post. We're looking to do some more research about local council elections and understanding how people who are more engaged think about local issues versus voting at Westminster level, and then we'll be looking at Wales and the Assembly level and Scotland at parliament level, and maybe devolved powers to a city like Manchester, and comparing that as well. So, with your permission, we'd like to keep you on file and if we're successful we'd like to invite you back, if not for 2016 then if there's an EU referendum maybe in 2017, and then if you still in the area in 2020 for the next general election. [laughter] When you're an academic you've got to be thinking ahead. We have had a meeting already about a grant for the 2016 elections, so.

Lindsay: Already?

I: Yes. It has to go in in August to give the announcement in February, so we could be back next year. So from us, thank you guys so much.

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