2026 Qualitative Election Study of Scotland and Qualitative Election Study of Wales


Welcome to the Qualitative Election Study of Scotland and the Qualitative Election Study of Wales, a collaboration between the Scottish Election Study, the Welsh Election Study and the Qualitative Election Study of Britain

 

2026 Election Studies: Understanding Elections Through Voters’ Voices

The Qualitative Election Study of Britain (QESB) is expanding its data collection to include devolved elections through new partnerships with the Scottish and Welsh Election Studies.

In 2026, QESB is working in collaboration with:

  • The Scottish Election Study (SES) 
  • The Welsh Election Study (WES)

to conduct the first coordinated qualitative data collection across general and devolved elections in Britain.

This collaboration brings together long-running survey research with in-depth qualitative methods, allowing researchers to connect what voters think with how and why they form those views.

What We Are Doing

Across Scotland and Wales, we are conducting online focus groups with voters before and after the elections.

These discussions explore:

  • Political parties and leadership
  • Key campaign issues (e.g. economy, taxes, NHS, climate, security)
  • Voter priorities and concerns
  • Reactions to election campaigns and outcomes

Participants take part in moderated group discussions, which are:

  • Video and audio recorded
  • Transcribed and anonymised
  • Analysed for research and teaching purposes
  • Securely archived for future use via the UK Data Archive

About the Collaboration

This initiative marks:

  • The first collaboration between QESB and devolved election studies
  • A major step toward integrated qualitative election research across Britain
  • A foundation for future longitudinal and comparative work

 

 

2025 Data Releases

The QESB is a collaborative effort between researchers from the UWE Bristol, the University of Dundee, and GESIS in Germany. Since our launch in 2010, our aim has been to learn about the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of every day voters, before and after the UK general election.

The Qualitative Election Study of Britain (QESB) is proud to announce the data releases for the UK general election held on the 4th of July, 2024. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our previous focus group panellists for their continued support, and extend a warm welcome to any newcomers for this year – we thank you for your interest in our study.

Qualitative Election Study of Britain: Pre- and Post- Election Transcripts, 2024 (click here)

In June and July 2024, seventy-six eligible voters took part in pre-election online and in-person focus groups for the 2024 UK General Election. Sixty-one participatnts returned for focus groups or interviews in the post-election data collection round in July and August 2024.

Citation: Oliver, Thom and Carvalho, Edzia and Winters, Kristi (2025). Qualitative Election Study of Britain: Pre- and Post- Election Transcripts, 2024. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-857874

Qualitative Election Study of Britain Party Leader Evaluations Database, 2005-2024 (click here)

The Qualitative Election Study of Britain (QESB) Party Leader Evaluation Database 2010 – 2024 contains the collection of 5,504 words and phrases that evaluate British political party leaders collected during pre-election focus groups and interviews conducted with participants from England, Scotland and Wales, during the General Election campaigns of 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2024.

These data are structure for use in sentiment analysis. Each tab contains a column listing participant’s’ words and phrases as a string variable; the next two columns list the election year and leader, affective evaluations (relating to, arising from, or influencing feelings or emotions) as a string variable, and the affective evaluation as a numeric scale from negative –1 to positive +1. These data are suitable for sentiment and discourse analysis, or analytic generalization – establishing that a concept exists within a population regardless of the number of people who hold it.

Winters, Kristi and Carvalho, Edzia and Oliver, Thom (2025). Qualitative Election Study of Britain Party Leader Evaluations Database, 2005-2024. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-857826

How can I contact you?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the sign-up process, or the study itself, we would be glad to hear from you. You can reach us by email at qualesb@gmail.com, and one of our team members will contact you as soon as possible.

We would like to thank you again for your interest and support for the study. We look forward to chatting politics with you soon.

Sincerely,
The QESB Team





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