Eve of Poll Election Surveys, 1979

MORI conducted two separate national eve-of-poll "prediction" polls at the 1979 general election. Both were published in our client newspapers on election day, 3 May. As the table below shows, both predicted all three major  parties' share of the vote to within a single percentage point.

 

For the Daily Express, MORI reinterviewed respondents from a representative quota sample of 1,099 British adults aged 18+ who had originally been interviewed on 21-23 April. A total of 947 adults were re-interviewed on 29 April-1 May 1979. Interviews were conducted face-to-face. (Unusually, these figures were reported in the Daily Express to one decimal place, and are therefore so given below.)

 

For the Evening Standard, MORI interviewed a fresh quota sample of 1,089 adults in 109 constituencies on 2 May 1979. Interviews were conducted face-to-face, in street.

	MORI/ Daily Express 29 April-1 May	MORI/ Evening Standard 2 May	Election result (GB) 3 May
	%	%	%
Conservative	44.4	45	45.0
Labour	38.8	37	37.8
Liberal	13.5	15	14.2
Other	3.3	3	3.0
Conservative lead	+5.6	+8	+7.2