MRS welcomes findings of House of Lords Select Committee on Political Polling and Digital Media
17 April 2018

The House of Lords Inquiry into the influence of political polling and digital media on politics and democracy in the UK reports its findings today. MRS welcomes the conclusions made by the Political Polling and Digital Media Committee, chaired by Lord Lipsey.

As the regulator for market, social and opinion research, we fully support the Inquiry and we are committed to working closely with the British Polling Council and our members to uphold the highest standards.

The MRS Code of Conduct provides a stringent set of professional standards which our members abide by and thus enables us to help protect the providers and buyers of market and social research and, importantly, those that respond to it.

Only MRS members are bound by this ethical and professional code and so if a member of the public is in any doubt as to the veracity of market research they should always ask or check for identification and only engage with MRS accredited organisations. Only then will they have the confidence that the organisation is bound by the strict regulations.

Jane Frost CBE, Chief Executive of MRS, comments: “The UK is the world’s second-largest market for professional research, employing close to 73,000 professional staff and worth over £4.8bn annually. The continued growth of the sector is testament to the value that organisations place on the importance of evidence-based decisions across both the public and private sectors. It is important that the sector continues to be challenged and responds to the changing market if it is to continue to develop as a healthy profession, hence we welcome the spotlight that the Committee has given to these issues.”

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