Commissioning opinion polls
We must take care to ensure that a poll we commission is not used to suggest a BBC view on a particular policy or issue. It is particularly important that a BBC poll is not used to imply BBC intervention in a current controversy.
Any proposal to commission or sponsor opinion polls purporting to sample party political support or voting intentions in the electorate at large must be referred to Chief Adviser, Politics.
We should generally avoid running joint polls with other organisations as they often carry particular problems of impartiality in their presentation.
Any proposal to commission an opinion poll on politics or any other matter of public policy for any BBC service must be referred to Chief Adviser, Politics for approval. Technical advice, for example, on question design, is available from the Political Research Unit.