Polls at Election Times
The BBC never commissions voting intention polls during election campaigns.
Extra care must be taken in commissioning any opinion polls on politics or public policy* either during election campaigns or during the period before any campaign where the political context of the election is already prominent. For instance, commissioning a poll which appears to endorse or reject a specific party’s policy on a given issue in their manifesto, may open the BBC to criticism that it is intervening in a current controversy, contrary to Editorial Guidelines.
* In this guidance, “public policy” should be defined as any issue which falls within the remit of government, local government or other public bodies, such as health, education, crime, constitutional affairs, foreign affairs, economic policy etc. If in doubt – refer to the Chief Adviser, Politics.