Never Mind The Bar Charts

Never Mind The Bar Charts

Mark Pack and guests talk about the Liberal Democrats, British politics and a few stray digressions. Only a few.

Episodes

December 14, 2025 59 mins

Two of the authors of a new book, The British General Election of 2024, joined me for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. Among the topics we discuss are whether Labour's post-election slump has made people too critical of their election campaign, whether the Conservatives could have saved themselves and lessons for the Lib Dems.

Show notes

Mark as Played

I've popped up on a movie podcast, War Movie Theatre with Rob Hutton and Duncan Weldon. Here is what they have to say about the show:

"A 1964 film about accidental nuclear war from a legendary director and featuring a German scientist with homicidal ideas? That's right, it's Dr Strangelove… hang on, no, it's Fail Safe. Overshadowed on release because of a lawsuit from a rival film (you can guess which), this parable from Sidney Lum...

Mark as Played

This episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features podcast favourite Phil Cowley talking about his new book, The Smallest Room in the House. It is crammed full of fun yet useful insights from political science. Listen to us talk about Simon Cowell, fish and chip shops, riots, the rise of AI, potholes and more.

Show notes

Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts sees a return to the show for Professor Rob Ford. We dive into my favourite political paradox to discuss with him: the long term liberalising trends in British politics and yet the run of wins for the Conservatives and populist right. Who is going to come out on top?

Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.

Show notes

    Read more
Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts sees me discuss with polling expert Steve Akehurst what has happened to Labour's July 2024 vote.

We dive into the characteristics of those who voted for Starmer but are now flirting with Farage, as well as ask whether those folk are really the whole story.

Show notes

Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features an interview with Emeritus Professor Jonathan Parry, whose new book, Liberalism, explores the history of liberalism as a political idea in Britain. 

Parry emphasises that liberalism is best understood through the actions of politicians rather than the abstract theories of political intellectuals.

Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may ...

Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts saw me team up with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod team to discuss the local elections. How did they go for the Liberal Democrats and what lessons are there for the party?

Show notes

Mark as Played

John Potter of the Lib Dem Pod quizzed me about my first experiences of the House of Lords for our latest joint podcast.

Show notes

Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another in the occasional series looking back at previous party leaders with Duncan Brack.

This time we pick over Jeremy Thorpe's career - securing Britain's place in Europe, leading the Liberal Party to national prominence and then mired in scandal. What to make of it all?

Show notes

Mark as Played
February 15, 2025 43 mins

Peter Kellner join sme to discuss a new report on what is going wrong with our politics, and the solutions. No surprise then that our conversation focused on populism, its causes and how liberals can defeat it.

Show notes

Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts saw Paula Surridge return to the show, talking about the impact of political values and of perceived competence on recent general elections. We got into some surprising similarities between Tony Blair and Nigel Farage, as well as ways in which Boris Johnson and Gordon Brown were the same.

Take a listen to find out how on earth we ended up there.

Show notes

    Read more
Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look at a book that has made me rethink several things I thought I knew about the history of the Liberal Democrats and Liberals before them.

It also contains some wonderfully acerbic photo captions and some not terribly kind words about David Lloyd George.

It is a book from another David - David Laws - and is a history of Labour - Liberal (Democrat) relations over the last cen...

Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look at recent research into the impact of electoral reform on the stability of governments.

Does PR mean less stable government? Listen to my discussion with the research's author Dylan Difford to find out.

Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.

Show notes

Mark as Played

Election campaigns often put significant effort into persuading voters that their candidate(s) could win. But does such campaigning really change people's expectations of who might win? And even if it people's views do change, does being seen as a more likely winner really help you win the election?

Or in other words, are all those "winning here" posters and bar charts worth it?

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts ...

Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts sees a return to the show for Sam Freedman. This time he’s got a new book out, about how our government is broken – and what to do to fix it.

Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.

Show notes
Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts discusses a great new book about the geography of British elections with its two authors, Jamie Furlong and Will Jennings.

Why do the Conservatives underperform on Merseyside yet overperform in Lincolnshire, and how much of electoral geography is really about individual campaigners?

Take a listen to find out...

Show notes

  • Get The Changing Electoral M...
Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts takes a look back to the five criteria for success that Professor Tim Bale set out for opposition leaders and considers how they played out by the end of the 2024 general election.

Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.

Show notes

Mark as Played
July 2, 2024 46 mins

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another special with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod, looking at all the latest from the election campaign.

Show notes

Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another special with John Potter and the Lib Dem Pod, looking at all the latest from the election campaign with Lib Dem peer Liz Barker and Lib Dem candidate David Chadwick.

Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it.

Show notes

Mark as Played

The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts is another team-up with the Lib Dem podcast, taking a look at the general election, mulling over Nigel Farage's entrance and hearing about how a Dalek got canvassed.

Appearing on the show is Victoria Collins. The constituency she is standing in includes the village of Aldbury, often used in TV and films, including for Doctor Who and The Avengers.

Show notes

Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Burden

    The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.

    SmartLess

    "SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.