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| Survation | |
|---|---|
| Name | Survation |
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Opinion polling |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Adam Drummond |
| Products | Public opinion research, market research, political polling |
Survation is a United Kingdom–based market research and polling company founded in 2010. The organization conducts public opinion polling, electoral research, and commercial market studies for media outlets, political parties, trade unions, charities, and corporations. Its work has been cited in national and regional newspapers, broadcast outlets, and academic analyses concerning elections, referendums, and public policy debates.
The firm was established amid a growing market for modern polling techniques in the early 2010s, a period shaped by events such as the 2010 United Kingdom general election, the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, and the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Founding occurred contemporaneously with developments involving organizations like the British Polling Council, the Electoral Commission, and Ipsos MORI. Survation engaged with media partners including Channel 4 Television, Sky News, and the Daily Mail, while operating alongside competitors such as YouGov, Opinium, and Kantar Public. Its emergence followed technological and methodological shifts demonstrated by firms like Gallup and Pew Research Center and took place during debates influenced by analyses from academics at the London School of Economics, Oxford University, and University College London.
Survation employs mixed-mode approaches drawing on telephone interviewing, online panels, and online omnibus surveys, reflecting techniques used across the industry by firms such as YouGov, Ipsos, and ComRes. Sampling frames reference voter registration patterns tied to electoral rolls overseen by the Electoral Commission and local authorities including Westminster City Council and Greater London Authority. Weighting procedures incorporate demographic benchmarks derived from Office for National Statistics and census outputs, mirroring practices used at institutions like the National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Questionnaire design has been informed by survey research literature from institutions such as the Smith Institute, RAND Corporation, and the Pew Research Center. In methodological discussions the company has compared approaches with academic studies from the University of Manchester, University of Warwick, and University of Cambridge.
Survation produced high-profile polling during events including the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the 2015 United Kingdom general election, the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, the 2017 United Kingdom general election, the 2019 United Kingdom general election, and local elections across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Media outlets that have published its work include The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, BBC News, ITV, Sky News, and Channel 4. The firm supplied constituency-level voting intention data used in analyses by think tanks such as the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Centre for Policy Studies, the Resolution Foundation, and the Institute for Government. Survation’s commercial reports addressed sectors served by clients such as the Confederation of British Industry, Trades Union Congress, and the British Medical Association, and informed coverage of policy debates involving figures like David Cameron, Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson, Nicola Sturgeon, and Keir Starmer.
Assessments of Survation’s performance have featured in post-election audits alongside reviews by Polling Council members, academic critiques from scholars at the University of Oxford and LSE, and meta-analyses comparing companies such as YouGov, Ipsos MORI, and ComRes. After the 2017 and 2019 elections and the 2016 referendum, statisticians and commentators from institutions like the Royal Statistical Society, the British Election Study, and the Electoral Reform Society examined weighting, turnout modelling, and question wording. Critics referenced discrepancies in some constituency-level predictions and methodological transparency, while defenders pointed to successes in particular national estimates and the firm’s publication of full crosstabs and methodology statements in line with standards promoted by the British Polling Council and the Market Research Society.
The company is privately held and operates from a base in London, interacting with regulatory and industry bodies such as the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Market Research Society. Leadership has included industry professionals with backgrounds in political research and commercial market intelligence, and the organization contracts with polling panellists drawn from suppliers similar to Panelbase and YouGov’s panels. Survation’s client portfolio has comprised political parties across the United Kingdom, broadcasters including ITV and Channel 4, trade associations, non-governmental organizations like Oxfam and Age UK, and corporate clients spanning finance and retail sectors such as Barclays and Tesco.
Like other polling firms, the organization has faced scrutiny over data protection, compliance with the Data Protection Act and later the UK General Data Protection Regulation enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office, and disputes concerning pre-election reporting rules overseen by the Electoral Commission and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice. Media controversies involved debates around the publication timing of polls in the run-up to elections and referendums, with commentators from outlets such as The Independent, Daily Mail, and Financial Times critiquing or defending specific releases. Academic and industry discussions have touched on transparency, sampling ethics, and commercial confidentiality in client-funded research as debated at conferences hosted by the British Polling Council and the Market Research Society.
Category:Polling companies Category:Market research firms Category:Public opinion research