The only thing certain about opinion polls is their uncertainty

I try to remain sceptical at all times and prefer to use opinion-poll averages as a way of screening out outliers and focusing on trends

Related: General election 2019 – what you need to know (Getty)

Every election, we journalists resolve not to allow coverage to be dominated by the opinion polls. Every time, we find ourselves fighting a losing battle against the human desire to ask who is going to win, and how much by?

Last week there was too much attention given to the YouGov MRP poll, published on Wednesday night, which was treated as holy writ because a poll using the same method was unexpectedly accurate at the last election.

I am guilty of contributing to the hype: I wrote about it, because I am interested in polls. I think they are the worst way of knowing what people think – apart from any other method.