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Politics Unpacked

The Swing Voters Who’ll Decide The Next Election

This week millions of voters will go to the polls as more than 8,000 council seats in England are contested in the local elections – the most significant gauge of public opinion before Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at a general election. Behind the scenes, politicians and pollsters are trying to work out exactly who they need to win over, and how they can do it without losing their core supporters.


In this guest episode from the Stories of Our Times team, Manveen Rana speaks to Red Box reporter Lara Spirit and former YouGov president Peter Kellner.


- Find out whether there are elections in your area: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/your-election-information


- New photo ID requirements to vote: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voter-id/accepted-forms-photo-id

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