The Ipsos Worm Explained

For all three debates, Ipsos has measured the reaction of undecided voters to what each leader says. The Today Programme has now used this data to create the best and worst possible political speeches.

For each debate, Ipsos has recruited 36 undecided voters for the BBC News at Ten, each watching one of the three leaders, to give their reactions as they watched the debate unfold live.

Participants were recruited to achieve a broad demographic mix based on gender, age, social grade and ethnicity as well voting behaviour. Participants used IML voting pads to record their reactions whilst watching the debate live. Three 'worms' - one for each leader - tracked participants' attitudes towards each of the three leaders throughout the debate, illustrating visually their 'high' and 'low' points according to160 undecided voters.

Using this information following the first two debates, writer and comedian AL Kennedy has written two speeches for BBC Radio 4's Today programme, one designed to160charm The Worm, and the other to worry it.

See Ipsos's analysis from the first debate160here and from the second debate here.

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