Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 2025

AGM Minutes

Annual General Meeting, 28th January 2025, 11.30

Savanta, 60 Great Portland St, London W1W 7RT, and also online

In attendance:

  • Professor Jane Green – President
  • Simon Atkinson – Management Committee member
  • Nick Moon – Secretary/Treasurer
  • Adam Drummond – Opinium
  • Joe Twyman – Deltapoll 
  • Anthony Wells – YouGov
  • Chris Hopkins – Savanta
  • Bill White – Lucid Talk 
  • Martin Baxter – Electoral Calculus

Attending online

  • Damian Lyons Lowe – Survation
  • Joe Dyble – Mortar
  • Owen Thomas – Yonder
  • Steve McGee – One Poll
  • Richard Crawshaw – Verian
  • Luke Tryl – More in Common
  • Anouschka Rajah – More in Common
  • Chris Holbrook – Findoutnow
  • Milan Kaster – Lucid Talk
  • Sam Hoar – Strand Partners
  • Robert Struthers – BMG
  • Vasil Lazarov – Survation
  • Gideon Skinner – Ipsos
  • Ivor Knox – Norstat
  • Seb Wilde – Public First
  • Nick Baker – Savanta
  • Jim Blagden – More in Common
  • James Kanagasooriam – Focal data
  • Kieran Kumaria – Stack
  • Ed Hodgson – YouGov

1. Apologies for absence

Johnny Heald – ORB, Gregor Jackson – Walnut, Philip van Scheltinga – Redfield and Wilton

2. Minutes of the last AGM

These had already been approved by Members

3. Officers’ reports

  • Financial report

The financial position remains healthy, with an increase over the year in our effective balance of £1,000, at just over £28,000. The Treasurer’s report was received with no questions.

  • Disclosure issues dealt with by the officers

There had been one complaint that was upheld about data not being made available within the specified period, but as it had already been posted before the complaint was made, no further action was taken.

  • Membership applications dealt with by the officers

Five organisations had successfully applied to join during the year, and one had left.

  • Web and social media report

Simon Atkinson’s report had already been circulated to members. He reiterated our policy of not entering into debates on X or to respond to posts. As suggested at the last AGM we have posted a pinned comment saying the BPC doesn’t reply via X and people should write to us formally.

  • Nextgen Pollsters Update

Again, Simon Atkinson’s report had been circulated prior to the meeting. It was noted that the group continues to do well.

4. President’s report

In addressing her written report, the President drew particular attention to the potential reputational risk to the industry, and to the high levels of demand placed on the BPC (especially during an election year) and contrasted this with the BPC’s limited infrastructure. A plea was made for members to approach their own legal departments for assistance with a wider redraft of the BPC Rules, and NB and AW agreed to do this.

It was noted that we need a c30 minute segment on MRP for the online journalist’s training course at the NCTJ, and to update our training resources more generally. JK volunteered assistance with this, and NB pointed out that the MRS has dedicated training staff we could perhaps draw on for the admin side.

The President thanked Findoutnow for sponsoring drinks at the recent event, and More in Common for offering support for the AGM.

5. Appointment of the officers

All three Officers were re-elected nem con.

6. MRS/BPC internal event

The President gave details of this event, which is a closed-doors event only for those Members who are also members of the MRS. It will be held at the MRS on 24 March, and invites will go out this week.

7. May 6 BPC public event

This event, intended as a postmortem on the election, will be held at Westminster Central Hall.

  • Content

The President expressed concern that there was still relatively little by way of postmortem analysis by Members on the BPC website, and encouraged Members to produce at least provisional analysis by the end of March, to allow an agenda to be drawn up for the meeting.

It was agreed that it wasn’t necessary for the BPC to come up with a single answer to present at the meeting, but at the same time it was recognized that it would not be helpful to have a series of speakers saying possibly contradictory things.

It was agreed that the outcome of the MRS/BPC meeting might provide a good structure for the May event.

  • Costs

The venue hire and refreshments will cost around £4,000. The cost of providing lunch for delegates before the event would be around £2,000, and Members agreed to go ahead with this.

8. Proposed changes to the rules

  • Adding new Rule 2.8

The president outlined the conversations she had been having with the Electoral Commission about potential requirements for clients to be registered with the Commission. While there is no legal risk to members there is potential reputational risk to the industry.

Members were broadly unhappy with the burden this might impose, and the Officers agreed to suggest a redraft to be circulated later.

  • Amendment to Rule 2.3

The Secretary/Treasurer explained that the requirement of full disclosure of all relevant questions to prevent cherry-picking by clients had been inserted in a section on private polling when the original intention had been for it to cover all polling.

Members expressed concern, not about moving the requirement from one section to another, but rather because they were unhappy with the requirement itself.

LT made the point that the requirement might make clients less willing to conduct message testing research, and suggested that the requirement should only cover questions asked before the ones published. AW referred to the risk of clients “lying by omission”.

It was agreed that the Officers would discuss and circulate a new draft.

9. Initial discussion on further rule changes

Following on from the previous two agenda items, the President said that the Officers were aware that the BPC Rules had failed to keep pace with events, and that on several occasions close scrutiny has revealed imprecise drafting. Members were therefore invited to give thoughts to a broader redraft of the Rules. To provide some context a blog from Mark Pack had been circulated prior to the AGM, though it was stressed that the Officers were not specifically recommending any of his proposals, and a similar document from a Member unable to attend will be attached to the Minutes.

  • Disclosure Rules for MRP

The President noted that most of the press and other enquiries she had dealt with during the election concerned MRP reports, and that the Rules have relatively little to say on these.

It was agreed that a working party would be formed of those working on MRP to draw up some proposed guidelines on disclosure.

As time was running out there was no discussion on this, but Members agreed to respond to the two background documents, and to make any other comments they felt would be helpful.

10. Any Other Business

Time prevented any AOB being raised, but DLL subsequently in writing referred back to the point in the President’s report about AI in polling, and linked this to the point in the Pack blog about what should be disclosed about the source of panel data. He felt this was something that should be considered in any redraft of the Rules.