People don’t read manifestos but influential commentators do

Professor Paul Whitely, an expert in electoral behaviour at the University of Essex, said that “people don’t read manifestos but they do care about what commentators say”.

He told Radio 4’s World at One that listening to these outsider commentators – such as the IFS and the OBR – has become “more important as people don’t trust politicians” and he says these independent bodies can “shift votes”.

He adds that in Britain analysis of manifestos is currently very focused on individual parties but on the continent they evaluate on the group of parties that could make a coalition – and if there are great contradictions or credible together.