2001 general election

Held on 2001-06-07. The result below is the official outcome; underneath it, where we hold the polls, is how close each pollster’s final poll came.

Result

Party Share (%)
Labour Party 42.0%
Conservative Party 32.7%
Liberal Democrats 18.8%

How the final polls compared

Each pollster’s last poll in the 30 days before this election, and how far it was from the result. Only parties the pollster reported are counted.

Pollster Final poll Days before Parties scored Difference
YouGov 2001-06-04 3 3 1.0 percentage points
Party Poll Result Difference
Liberal Democrats 17.0% 18.8% -1.8 percentage points
Labour Party 43.0% 42.0% +1.0 percentage points
Conservative Party 33.0% 32.7% +0.3 percentage points
Ipsos MORI 2001-06-05 2 3 2.2 percentage points
Party Poll Result Difference
Labour Party 45.0% 42.0% +3.0 percentage points
Conservative Party 30.0% 32.7% -2.7 percentage points
Liberal Democrats 18.0% 18.8% -0.8 percentage points
Rasmussen 2001-06-02 5 3 2.2 percentage points
Party Poll Result Difference
Labour Party 45.0% 42.0% +3.0 percentage points
Liberal Democrats 16.0% 18.8% -2.8 percentage points
Conservative Party 32.0% 32.7% -0.7 percentage points
Gallup 2001-06-06 1 3 2.5 percentage points
Party Poll Result Difference
Labour Party 48.0% 42.0% +6.0 percentage points
Liberal Democrats 18.0% 18.8% -0.8 percentage points
Conservative Party 32.0% 32.7% -0.7 percentage points
ICM 2001-06-02 5 3 2.8 percentage points
Party Poll Result Difference
Labour Party 47.0% 42.0% +5.0 percentage points
Conservative Party 30.0% 32.7% -2.7 percentage points
Liberal Democrats 18.0% 18.8% -0.8 percentage points
NOP 2001-05-31 7 3 3.5 percentage points
Party Poll Result Difference
Labour Party 47.0% 42.0% +5.0 percentage points
Liberal Democrats 16.0% 18.8% -2.8 percentage points
Conservative Party 30.0% 32.7% -2.7 percentage points

How this is measured: for each past election we take each pollster’s last poll in the 30 days before polling day and compare it, party by party, with the result. The figure is the mean absolute difference across the parties that appear in both. Only parties the pollster actually reported are counted. A late shift in opinion is not the same thing as a polling error.