It is worth your time following election opinion polls – here’s why

They don’t always get it right, but a well chosen sample of 2,000 people or less does produce a very useful snapshot of the voting public’s attitudes

The gap between Labour and the Tories has narrowed (AFP via Getty)

Every election opinion pollsters hear the same complaints about their work. “You can’t trust the polls, they are all over the place, and they got it wrong last time.” “I’ve never been polled.” “What can you tell from 2,000 people?” “They’re a plot to manipulate opinion: they are all owned by Tories.”

Every time, they try patiently to explain what they do and why they don’t always get it right. Thank goodness they don’t, by the way, because imagine how dull (or corrupt) politics would be if we knew the result of an election before anyone had voted.