The team at YouGov reveal how public opinion really works - and reveal that we're not as divided as we think.
Are anti-democratic authoritarians really on the rise? Is British politics actually more polarised than ever before? And do Britons genuinely hold strong views on the 'culture wars'?
From reading the news, you'd think the answer to all these questions is a resounding 'yes'. And yet the evidence from the UK's leading polling firm, YouGov, would indicate quite the opposite - that we are more moderate, and less divided, than ever before.
Here, the CEO of YouGov and a leading academic pollster team up to reveal why almost everything you've been told about public opinion is wrong. Drawing on thousands of polls from across the nation, they reveal that our opinions on conflict and politicians, culture wars and democracy are much stranger - and more interesting - than we have been told.
| ISBN: | 9781529153361 |
| Publication date: | 16th April 2026 |
| Author: | Stephan Shakespeare, Joel Rogers de Waal |
| Publisher: | Hutchinson Heinemann an imprint of Cornerstone |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 304 pages |
| Genres: |
Public opinion and polls Social research and statistics |
The team at YouGov reveal how public opinion really works - and reveal that we're not as divided as we think.
Are anti-democratic authoritarians really on the rise? Is British politics actually more polarised than ever before? And do Britons genuinely hold strong views on the 'culture wars'?
From reading the news, you'd think the answer to all these questions is a resounding 'yes'. And yet the evidence from the UK's leading polling firm, YouGov, would indicate quite the opposite - that we are more moderate, and less divided, than ever before.
Here, the CEO of YouGov and a leading academic pollster team up to reveal why almost everything you've been told about public opinion is wrong. Drawing on thousands of polls from across the nation, they reveal that our opinions on conflict and politicians, culture wars and democracy are much stranger - and more interesting - than we have been told.
The Secret Life of Public Opinion features in the following genres: Public opinion and polls, Social research and statistics
The Secret Life of Public Opinion is available in Hardback
The Secret Life of Public Opinion was written by Stephan Shakespeare, Joel Rogers de Waal and published by Hutchinson Heinemann an imprint of Cornerstone
The Secret Life of Public Opinion has 304 pages
£19.80