The voice of the people (via Mark Mardell)

Can't see Mark

The value of vox pops? The Two BBC Marks, Easton and Mardell, place great value on them. Others think they are worthless and open to bias (unconscious or otherwise).

Mark Mardell found himself at a food festival in Reading for The World This Weekend and popped some voxes into his report. (Wonder what he ate? He didn't say).

"I can't promise the Blue Collar Festival is representative of the voters of Reading", he said - though not letting that stop him!

He continued, "but there are certainly some mixed views here about Boris Johnson and some of the others". 

Hmm, I'm not sure I'd call these "mixed views":

• I feel a little bit lost at the moment. I'm firmly in the centre ground politically and so I find it very, very difficult to vote for Corbyn because he seems very, very anti-business but I think Boris - as much as Boris is Boris - he's probably the most likely to win an election.
• I think he's a liar. I think he's been consistently called out for lying and I think there's a lot of comprehensive research on how much he's lied to the British public and I don't think he'd make a particularly good prime minister at all.
• Well, I suppose like most people he does appear to be a bit of a buffoon. But that's certainly the public persona that we see. And one can only assume that the MPs that are supporting him must see a different persona, a different person.
• Best of a bad bunch. That's all I've got to say about that. Best of a bad bunch. I think he's funny, but as a leader I don't know?
• We're for Rory Stewart. Let's put it that way!
• Boris Johnson has always been out for himself really. Very, very good at covering it up, but he's not the person to lead the country with any competence I think.
• [The obligatory morris dancer. Mark Easton likes his morris dancer vox pops too] Boris Johnson, I think he'd make a great fool actually. I really do. In fact, he'd probably do a much better job than I do as a morris fool.