Organisation Overview
Capture Politics is a small, flexible, and creative research organisation that researches the social sciences and focuses upon British politics. We are currently based in the Hastings & Rye area and are an entirely independent and voluntary research body committed to understanding political developments in Britain. We have particular interests in explaining the political change, analysing voting behaviour, and explaining election results within the UK. We also focus on explaining change within the Labour and Conservative Party.
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We pride ourselves on researching through exploring data and producing trends and visualisations that can tell an understandable narrative that can be consumed by a wide audience interested in UK politics. We primarily aim to do this through producing blog posts, research articles and books which communicate the stories we have found from our data analysis.
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We have used the British Election Study (BES) and national polling data to identify trends in voting behaviour, and from this produce a story of how British politics is developing. In particular, we have studied why voters chose to cast the ballot the way they do and the possible reasons behind why voters switched from Labour to alternative parties in the 2019 election.
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We aim to undertake original research by analysing data deeply. This methodology allows us to produce unique stories as it identifies trends the mainstream press might miss.
At times we also use more advanced forms of statistical analysis to produce predictive models. These predictive models help us produce work that enables us to understand how accurate and useful trends we have identified are in explaining political developments within the UK. ​
We have also created useful predictive models by conducting polls outlining trends in local voting behaviour. Identifying trends in a key marginal constituency has allowed us to accurately predict general election results, and from this create blog posts which has informed people interested in local political developments within the UK. For instance, we undertook a Hastings&Rye constituency poll in the 2017 General election and accurately predicted a close race and a hung parliament nationally. We also presented our 2019 poll to a large audience at a hustings event in Hastings in early December 2019 and accurately informed this audience how voters were behaving during the election. We also intend to conduct focus groups outlining reasons why local voters switched from Labour to alternative options in the 2019 election.
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We have delivered research projects using both quantitative and qualitative methods to provide information to the public on how society is changing and the possible consequences it may bring. For example, we have presented our research on gentrification at a town meeting in Hastings. Moreover, in this meeting, we also conducted survey research to outline how voters perceived gentrification in Hastings and how they felt it was impacting their lives and the town they lived in.​
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At the end of any research project we engage with, we aim to provide high-quality research reports which will give a summary of complex information in a way that is easy and enjoyable to read.
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