FAQ
What is PollSignal?
PollSignal is a tactical voting information tool for right-of-centre voters in UK Westminster general elections. It helps users see whether Conservative, Reform, or another right-of-centre candidate appears best placed in their constituency.
Why does this site exist?
Many UK tactical voting tools are designed to help anti-Conservative or anti-Reform voters coordinate. PollSignal approaches the same tactical-voting problem from the other direction: helping right-of-centre voters avoid splitting their vote where that split could affect the constituency result.
Is PollSignal a political party?
No. PollSignal is not a political party and does not stand candidates. It is a political information and analysis service. The site should carry a clear digital imprint identifying the publisher and promoter.
Does PollSignal tell me how to vote?
PollSignal provides an evidence-based recommendation and explanation. It does not control, guarantee, or verify how anyone votes. Every voter should make their own decision.
Which elections do you cover?
The first version focuses on UK general elections and Westminster constituencies. Local elections, mayoral elections, Scottish Parliament elections, Senedd elections, and by-elections may be considered later, but they are not part of the initial scope.
What recommendations can a constituency have?
A constituency can show one of five outcomes:
- Recommended tactical vote: Conservative.
- Recommended tactical vote: Reform.
- Recommended tactical vote: another right-of-centre candidate.
- Too close / insufficient data.
- No realistic right-of-centre path.
How do you decide the recommendation?
We review constituency data, previous election results, current candidate information, polling or forecast evidence where available, right-of-centre vote-splitting risk, and local context. Human editors review recommendations before publication.
Is the recommendation automatic?
No. Data imports can flag patterns and suggest review tasks, but the final tactical recommendation is manually reviewed. Manual review is important because local candidate strength, boundary changes, polling uncertainty, and late campaign developments can change the picture.
What does the confidence rating mean?
Confidence shows how strongly the available evidence supports the recommendation.
- High means the evidence points clearly toward one right-of-centre candidate.
- Medium means the evidence supports a recommendation but has meaningful uncertainty.
- Low means the evidence is weak, limited, or contested.
- Insufficient data means no firm recommendation should be made.
Confidence is not a guarantee that the candidate will win.
What does split-vote risk mean?
Split-vote risk indicates whether Conservative, Reform, or other right-of-centre candidates appear likely to divide the vote in a way that could affect the result.
A severe or material split-vote risk means voters may need clearer coordination if they want to avoid a divided right-of-centre vote.
Why does my constituency say “Too close / insufficient data”?
This means we do not have enough reliable evidence to separate the right-of-centre candidates responsibly. It may happen where Conservative and Reform are close, forecasts disagree, candidate information is incomplete, or constituency-level evidence is weak.
Why does my constituency say “No realistic right-of-centre path”?
This means no right-of-centre candidate currently appears competitive enough for a meaningful tactical recommendation. The page should explain the main reason, such as a dominant Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green, SNP, Plaid Cymru, or other non-right candidate.
Can recommendations change?
Yes. Recommendations can change when new candidate information, polling, forecasts, corrections, or local evidence becomes available. Constituency pages show a last-reviewed date.
How often is the data updated?
Update frequency depends on the election cycle.
During quiet periods, factual data may be checked periodically. During an active general election campaign, candidate data, forecasts, and priority constituencies may be reviewed much more frequently.
Where does the data come from?
Expected sources include postcode lookup services, ONS constituency data, UK Parliament and House of Commons Library election results, Democracy Club candidate data, public or licensed polling and forecast data, and manual editorial review.
See the Data page for more detail.
Why do you ask for my postcode?
Your postcode is used to identify your Westminster constituency. It allows the site to show the relevant constituency page.
Do you store my postcode?
The lookup tool does not need to store your raw postcode permanently. If you sign up for alerts, we may store your postcode or constituency so we can send relevant updates. The privacy policy should explain exactly what is stored and why.
Can I sign up without giving a postcode?
You may be able to select your constituency manually. A postcode is usually the easiest way to identify the correct constituency.
What emails will I receive if I sign up?
You may receive updates when the recommendation for your constituency changes, when the confidence rating changes, or when major election analysis is published. You should be able to unsubscribe from every email.
Do you sell or share email addresses?
No. Email addresses should be used for PollSignal updates only and should not be sold. The privacy policy should explain any email platform used to process subscriber data.
Can I report an error?
Yes. Use the correction form to report an incorrect candidate, wrong constituency assignment, outdated source, broken link, or recommendation issue. Reports are reviewed before changes are made.
Can a candidate request a correction?
Yes. Candidates or campaign teams can report factual errors, outdated profile information, or incorrect source links. Editorial labels and recommendations may be reviewed, but they are not automatically changed on request.
What are candidate labels?
Candidate labels are manually reviewed editorial notes, such as “mainstream conservative”, “sound right”, “unknown”, or “Reform candidate credible”. They are intended to explain local context and may change as more information becomes available.
Why not recommend the official Conservative candidate everywhere?
In some constituencies, the Conservative candidate may be best placed. In others, Reform or another right-of-centre candidate may appear stronger. PollSignal’s purpose is to assess the local tactical picture, not to apply a single national rule.
Why not recommend Reform everywhere?
The same principle applies. Reform may be strongest in some constituencies, but not all. A tactical recommendation depends on the constituency, candidate strength, previous results, current evidence, and split-vote risk.
Are you using local polling in every constituency?
No. Constituency-level polling is often unavailable. Where no reliable local polling exists, we may rely on previous results, candidate data, national trends, forecasts, and editorial review. If evidence is too weak, we may show “Too close / insufficient data”.
How accurate is the tool?
The tool is designed to be useful and transparent, but elections are uncertain. Forecasts can be wrong, local campaigns can change, and voters may behave differently from models. We therefore publish confidence ratings and avoid overstating weak evidence.
Is the data public?
The intention is to publish current recommendation data and archived snapshots in CSV and JSON formats. Private user data, internal notes, and unreviewed evidence are not included in public exports.
How do I contact PollSignal?
Use the correction form for data issues. For other enquiries, use the contact details listed on the site footer or legal/imprint page.