It’s been a year of momentous events and rapid change worldwide across the political, media and cultural divides.
Trump defying all odds, Syria delivering horror after horror and Brexit exposing deep fissures in not just the Conservative Party but the whole country… 2016 was the year the music died, with Bowie, Prince and Leonard Cohen departing us, although Ed Balls’ popularity was resurrected with a Gangnam Style salsa and a piano set ablaze.
We’ve seen corporate scandals with train strikes, doping investigations and Sir Philip Green becoming a national villain; sporting triumphs for Andy Murray and Team GB and the odd disaster, Iceland defeating us in the knock-out stage of the Euros, if it’s not too painful to recall.
2016, while it will become the trusted response to many a pub quiz chin scratcher, is hard to sum up. Luckily, we have asked five of Pagefield’s friends, who also happen to be some of Britain’s brightest commentators, to take up the challenge by answering five quick-fire questions on the year that was and what happens next. We will publish one each day.
Thanks to all our guest bloggers this week, Phillip Collins, Jon Snow, Debbie Wosskow and Simon Hamer. To wrap the series up it’s Deborah Mattinson, Founding Partner of the polling company Britain Thinks.
2016 in 5 words
Revenge of the forgotten voters
Biggest political surprise
How astonished Westminster Village/ ‘metro elite’ were at the European referendum result – there was no rational reason for this…(and even if the polls weren’t 100% right, the focus groups were)
PR win / PR flop
Leave campaign/Remain campaign
Wild card prediction
More of the same in France, Germany and Italy
New Year resolution
Continue to sing the praises of small data as an enabling and predictive tool for all policy makers
