Mark Pack
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I’m an author and, since January 2020, President of the Liberal Democrats.
My books include Polling UnPacked: The History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, 101 Ways To Win An Election and Bad News: what the headlines don’t tell us. I also host the Never Mind The Bar Charts podcast.
I worked for the Liberal Democrats 2000-2009, including a period as Head of Innovations and running the party’s digital and data operation for the 2001 and 2005 general elections. In 2015 I wrote with David Howarth the seminal pamphlet on the party’s strategy: The 20% Strategy: building a core vote for the Liberal Democrats.
I also helped found and then later was co-editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and now edit Liberal Democrat Newswire, the monthly email newsletter about the Liberal Democrats. Source
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| Scope | National |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Country | United Kingdom |
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A Conservative leaflet from the 1951 general election, housed at the People’s History Museum in Manchester: Information about the leaflet from the museum (see number 5 in the list): Football-themed leaflets were quite the thing in 1951 and you can watch a short video about that election here. For more gems from past election leaflets, see my collection How leaflets used to look.
Here is Ed Davey’s closing speech to the Autumn 2025 Lib Dem Federal Conference: What a time we’ve had here in Bournemouth. Lots of lively debates – on so many important topics. And somehow we’ve managed to get through it all without bringing someone up onto the stage to argue that it was Covid vaccines that caused cancer in the Royal Family. See, Nigel?
Two principal authority council by-elections this week, including one in Keir Starmer’s own Camden backyard. That contest was for West Hampstead ward, in the constituency of his controversy-hit fellow Labour MP Tulip Siddiq. The result? A Liberal Democrat win, by a huge 718 vote margin after missing out by 38 votes last time around: That is a 19% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats. Congratulations to Janet, Keith her agent and the whole team.
Liberal Democrat Newswire #199 came out a few days ago and you can now also read it in full below. But if you’d like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, just sign up now: Welcome to Lib Dem Newswire #199 which draws on the last time our party system was upended for lessons for the Liberal Democrats in this Parliament, when the same thing may be happening again.
A house with a role in the history of chocolate and Doctor Who
Welcome to 175 Stroud Green Road, near where I live and a house with an important little role in the history of chocolate and Doctor Who. The middle of a run of three houses that currently has a Sainsbury’s in their ground floor, it was back in the 1880s home to George Osborne Barratt and his family. The confectionery firm he founded made, amongst other products, Liquorice Allsorts and, Doctor Who’s favourite, Jelly Babies: Barratt’s eponymous firm became part of Cadbury in later years.
Quite simply, the worst piece of singing ever to grace British TV
I say “singing”. I say “grace”. I lie on both counts. The drummer ain’t bad though. VIDEO
Telly Savalas looks at Birmingham
Even better, despite what the title says on YouTube about “Radio 4”, this comes with pictures too:
Lessons from a century of Labour-Liberal (Democrat) relations
The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look at a book that has made me rethink several things I thought I knew about the history of the Liberal Democrats and Liberals before them. It also contains some wonderfully acerbic photo captions and some not terribly kind words about David Lloyd George. It is a book from another David – David Laws – and is a history of Labour – Liberal (Democrat) relations over the last century.
Mark Pack's post about politics, polling and related matters
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: In the running to the USA’s polling day, I managed mostly to stick to variations of ‘I’ve no idea’ when asked who I think would win the Presidential race. My nearest departure from that was when the final poll from Ann Selzer came out. That is because she has a remarkable record of producing outlier polls which then turn out to be right.
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