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Dylan Difford

@dylandifford.bsky.social
17K followers 317 following 3.8K posts

YouGov data journalist • Elections, polls, voting systems • "I like people, places and things" • dylan.difford@yougov.com

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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Anyway, with party conference season entering its final stages, here's the respective 'three word description' bubble charts for each of the five major party leaders, together in one place for the first time.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
🌳🧵/ As the Conservative conference gets underway, our briefing on attitudes to Kemi Badenoch and the party. In short: opinion towards Badenoch has improved since last autumn, but the wider party is still viewed with suspicion.
yougov.com
How do Britons see the Conservatives and Kemi Badenoch, ahead of the party’s 2026 conference?
Although attitudes to Kemi Badenoch have improved over the last year, the Conservative party’s image remains poor
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
He hasn't used AI-generated synthetic focus groups to test public opinion, though, has he. For the same reason that I couldn't use Grand Theft Auto to drive a car.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
He hasn't used AI-generated synthetic focus groups to test public opinion, though, has he. For the same reason that I couldn't use Grand Theft Auto to drive a car.
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Andraste Sideyr @andraste.fuckbgp.com · 03/10/2026
Lane || Boot.dev v @wagslane
Holy shit, America is cooked. They were able to perfectly clone the Microsoft Teams experience.


POLTICO
POLITICOEurope
@POLITICOEurope • Oct 1
The European Commission has rolled out an alternative to Microsoft Teams.
But officials using it aren't impressed, with one describing the tool as "absolute shit."
vist.ly/5kje9
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
🌻🧵/ With the Green's party conference underway, here's our briefing on attitudes to Polanski and the party. In short, over his first year as leader, Polanski has significantly changed the party's image, bringing both record election gains and record unpopularity.
yougov.com
How do Britons see the Greens and Zack Polanski, ahead of the party’s 2026 conference?
Opinion towards the Greens has become more unfavourable in the last year
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Aside from the whole "Peter Mannion: that's fucking mental" of it all, it's just incredibly lazily done. They might have an approximation of the colour palette, but the actual visual style, typeface, use of white space is all wrong. Plus, isn't "doth" Germanic, which the original famously is not.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Reckon I could die laughing if 'electoral reform' amounted to the Supplementary Vote. Just the most egregious 'British approach to constitutional reform' possible. Little gained, new problems, actual reform delayed.
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 02/10/2026
Just 20% of Britons believe the Tories are ready for a return to government, which although up since last autumn, is still a level more similar to Labour prior to the 2019 election (22%) than the 2024 election (38%) Ready for government: 20% (+9 from Sep 2025) Not ready for government: 59% (-10)
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 02/10/2026
How has the Tory Party's image changed since Badenoch became leader? Moderate: 44% (+9 from Oct 2024) Have clear purpose: 27% (+7) Tolerant: 23% (+1) Competent: 23% (+6) Trying to do right thing: 21% (+1) In touch: 17% (+5) Trustworthy: 16% (+2) Care about ordinary people: 16% (=) Strong: 15% (+5)
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 02/10/2026
Ahead of the Conservatives' party conference, we asked Britons to describe Kemi Badenoch in three words 40% use at least one negative term, with "useless", "nasty" and "rude" among the more common 31% use at least one positive term, with "strong" and "intelligent" the most common
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Sceptical of these numbers. I did the same exercise and found a much smaller bump for the Conservatives. Indeed, working through Kellner's Louth and Horncastle example would suggest he's adding something somewhere, as he suggests the TV result would be Con 44, Ref 37; mine say Con 40, Ref 37.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Luckily, it will be impossible to recommend a bigger monstrosity than the Jenkins Commission.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
🌹🧵 / As Labour's conference gets underway, our briefing on attitudes to Andy Burnham and the party. Burnham's current popularity has improved opinion towards Labour, though it still tends to be negative and is below where it was when Labour won the 2024 election.
yougov.com
How do Britons see Labour and Andy Burnham, ahead of the party’s 2026 conference?
While positivity towards Andy Burnham is still widespread, the Labour party’s image still tends to be negative
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
What's notable about Burnham's image at the moment is how the most common positive descriptions of him contrast with Starmer. Burnham is seen by supporters as 'down to Earth', 'hopeful', 'different', 'caring', 'genuine', 'a doer', 'honest' and 'likeable' - words few would use for his predecessor.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Applying the findings of our recent tactical voting study to our MRP's central estimates in England, there's a maximum potential tactical effect of: Lab: 287 (+55 from baseline / -60 from 2024) Con: 140 (+14 / +24) LD: 68 (+2 / +3) Ref: 33 (-74 / +28) Grn: 12 (+3 / +8)
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
🌹🧵 / As Labour's conference gets underway, our briefing on attitudes to Andy Burnham and the party. Burnham's current popularity has improved opinion towards Labour, though it still tends to be negative and is below where it was when Labour won the 2024 election.
yougov.com
How do Britons see Labour and Andy Burnham, ahead of the party’s 2026 conference?
While positivity towards Andy Burnham is still widespread, the Labour party’s image still tends to be negative
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 25/09/2026
While opinion towards Labour still tends to be negative, it has become less negative since Burnham became leader Weak: -25 from 16-18 May Unclear what they stand for: -19 Out of touch: -16 Incompetent: -16 Untrustworthy: -13 Serving own interests: -9 Care only for few: -7 Prejudiced: -6 Extreme: -1
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 25/09/2026
How do Labour voters describe Andy Burnham in three words? Northern: 10% Different: 9% Down to Earth: 9% Likeable: 7% Honest: 7% Determined: 6% Hopeful: 6% Competent: 5% Genuine: 5% Caring: 5% yougov.com/en-gb/articl...
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
One show I am surprised not to see on The List is Inside No9, which I'd pegged as being something of a critics' favourite, but I guess only in this country? (Though, personally, and perhaps controversially, I'd put it behind Psychoville and the League)
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The Crown's reputation is possibly the ultimate proof that TV is, above all else, a visual medium? Because, sure, it looks very impressive, but beyond that, I always found it quite hollow.
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 25/09/2026
Ahead of Labour's conference, we asked Britons to describe Andy Burnham in three words 43% used at least one positive, with "down to Earth", "likeable" among the top terms 42% used at least one negative, with "useless", "out of depth" common sentiments 23% included neutral terms, like "northern"
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Case in point, there's not going to be an early election, because it's a lot risk for a very plausibly painful reward, if that.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Sure, I like an election. In fact, given I'm genuinely interested in them for reasons beyond partisanship or superficial drama, I'd say I like them more than most. But I like them considerably less than say sleeping or watching TV.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Frankly, all the Westminster people trying to desperately manifest an early election out of boredom should each be required to pound-for-pound match my overtime bill for an election campaign.
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 22/09/2026
While our latest Westminster voting intention poll (20-21 September 2026) has the largest parties within the margin of error of our previous poll, Reform UK's 21% share is the lowest recorded by YouGov since we restarted our tracker in January 2025 yougov.com/en-gb/articl...
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Hearing that Ludwig Erhard is spinning in his grave. Kurt Georg Keisinger less so.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"But Stew, who is the real sick man in our so-called society? Is it the ordinary man, who may or may not be far-right, wanting to harmlessly rip up a legal and constitutional framework, or is it the moderate in his suit and tie not doing that?" "It's the first one, Rich, it's always the first one."
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A thing about complaints of a lack of coverage of the Lib Dems is that, even on here (possibly the highest density of Lib Dems outside of SW London), our pre-conference briefing on the party has received a tenth of the engagement of the identical one for Reform. You can see the incentive structure.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Even beyond the obvious anonymity in "who?", the image that has broken through is something of a double-edged sword. For every description of Davey as "fun" or "amusing", there's a "clown", "idiot" or "unserious". Though other aspects - such as Davey's carer role - do clearly have awareness too.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
🔶🧵/ Ahead of the Lib Dems' conference this weekend, our briefing on attitudes to the party and Ed Davey, which collectively have a bit of an anonymity-driven shrug to them.
yougov.com
How do Britons see the Liberal Democrats and Ed Davey, ahead of the party’s 2026 conference?
While Britons might see the Lib Dems as moderate, they also feel they are weak and unclear what the party stands for
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
tfw you're regretting part-timing being the ultimate man to star in an ill-conceived early 1970s doctor who serial
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
🔶🧵/ Ahead of the Lib Dems' conference this weekend, our briefing on attitudes to the party and Ed Davey, which collectively have a bit of an anonymity-driven shrug to them.
yougov.com
How do Britons see the Liberal Democrats and Ed Davey, ahead of the party’s 2026 conference?
While Britons might see the Lib Dems as moderate, they also feel they are weak and unclear what the party stands for
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 17/09/2026
Ahead of the Lib Dem party conference, we asked Britons to describe Ed Davey in three words 25% used at least one positive term, with "fun" and "caring" among the most common 35% used at least one negative term, with "clown" and "boring" among the most common 42% said "don't know" or even "who?"
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I'm sure that legitimising "throw a tantrum, get what you want" as a method of political action will not in any way repeatedly bite the government on the arse anytime they need to do anything.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Hi, even aside from being the least popular politician in the country and a national laughing stock, I'm a poor political operator, come across as quite off-putting, and have obviously not healthily psychologically processed my international humiliation. Please can I tank your party's reputation?
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Woah, are we so quick to dismiss the possibility they were celebrating the imminent election of Iain Duncan Smith as Tory leader?
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"But if you all continue to avoid engaging with reality, there's no way anyone will be able to govern the country effectively" said the frog "Lol" said the five scorpions, "lmao"
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 08/09/2026
Growing up, were you more of a BBC-watching household or more of an ITV-watching household? BBC-watching household: 47% ITV-watching household: 19% Neither: 24% yougov.com/en-gb/daily-...
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 08/09/2026
Reform UK and Nigel Farage are the only party and current party leaders that a majority of Britons (52-56%) describe as "very sleazy", more than double the 25% who regard the typical British government as such and relative to just 15-17% viewing Andy Burnham or Kemi Badenoch similarly
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👻 Jack Djinn Wail 🧞 @jacktindale.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
“Our last bachelor likes to totally fail how to handle right-wing populists! Let's hear it for Friedrich!
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
It's almost like the Basic Law skips straight from Article 20 to 22.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Aside from the whole them being on the right of right-wing populist parties of it all, there's just not any benefit of the doubt to give? They don't exactly hide their true colours - their state MPs walked out of a holocaust memorial event a few years ago, and they've only emboldened since.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Burnham and Badenoch both now hold advantages of 29-30 points over Farage on a Best PM head-to-head. For historic context, this is equivalent to Starmer's lead over Truss in October 2022 (42-44% vs 13-15%).
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
A reminder that, even before this, most Britons regarded Reform UK as *very* sleazy, let alone sleazy to any degree, with 40% of Reform voters regarding Farage personally as sleazy.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Share a thought tonight for James Johnson, who will for once not have to motivatedly reason his way to why a poll-related news story is positive for the Tories, but won't be able to share that insight.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
In case you missed it: Ahead of their conference, our analysis of public opinion towards Reform and Farage, which has turned more negative in recent months.
yougov.com
How do Britons see Reform UK and Nigel Farage, ahead of the party’s 2026 conference?
Most Britons see Reform UK as untrustworthy, extreme and incompetent, while the most common words used to describe Farage are "racist" and "liar"
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Aside from the whole them being on the right of right-wing populist parties of it all, there's just not any benefit of the doubt to give? They don't exactly hide their true colours - their state MPs walked out of a holocaust memorial event a few years ago, and they've only emboldened since.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; and it was great, all the revolution's objectives had been achieved.
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
RIP Mel Stride, gone too soon (as shadow chancellor), because I was going to make up a tracker chart for your two year anniversary in post highlighting the negligible impact you made on the public consciousness. Nov 2024 Fav: 6% Unfav: 18% DK: 76% Aug 2026 Fav: 6% Unfav: 20% DK: 73%
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