Len Metson
@lenmetson.com
PhD candidate @LSEGovernment 📚 Interested in campaigns, applied data science and field experiments 💻 he/him
🌐 lenmetson.com
🌐 lenmetson.com
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Len Metson
@lenmetson.com
· Sep 4
On my way to @psaepop.bsky.social to present this paper at the PhD pre-conference today at 1pm and the Campaigns panel on Friday at 4pm -
Looking forward to seeing everyone and hearing about lots of exciting research!
#EPOP2025
Looking forward to seeing everyone and hearing about lots of exciting research!
#EPOP2025
Live scenes from the England Cricket Board meeting on Monday
December 18, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Live scenes from the England Cricket Board meeting on Monday
Reposted by Len Metson
Online political discussions are characterized by a minority of users dominate the discussion, while most remain silent.
Those who perceived a discussion as toxic/polarized tend to remain silent: But toxicity engages power users (namely men interested in politics) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Those who perceived a discussion as toxic/polarized tend to remain silent: But toxicity engages power users (namely men interested in politics) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
December 11, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Online political discussions are characterized by a minority of users dominate the discussion, while most remain silent.
Those who perceived a discussion as toxic/polarized tend to remain silent: But toxicity engages power users (namely men interested in politics) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Those who perceived a discussion as toxic/polarized tend to remain silent: But toxicity engages power users (namely men interested in politics) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This is very cool, and amazing data!
Looking forward to reading the report in full later
Looking forward to reading the report in full later
Morning! Here's something exciting we've been working on: WriteToThem Insights www.mysociety.org/2025/12/11/n...
New report: WriteToThem Insights
What people are writhing to their representatives about? Insights from a new survey.
www.mysociety.org
December 11, 2025 at 9:26 AM
This is very cool, and amazing data!
Looking forward to reading the report in full later
Looking forward to reading the report in full later
Reposted by Len Metson
Absolutely amazing chart from @peterkellner.bsky.social's piece in @thenewworldmag.bsky.social today:
www.thenewworld.co.uk/peter-kellne...
www.thenewworld.co.uk/peter-kellne...
December 9, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Absolutely amazing chart from @peterkellner.bsky.social's piece in @thenewworldmag.bsky.social today:
www.thenewworld.co.uk/peter-kellne...
www.thenewworld.co.uk/peter-kellne...
Reposted by Len Metson
I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
How Google Maps quietly allocates survival across London’s restaurants - and how I built a dashboard to see through it
I wanted a dinner recommendation and got a research agenda instead. Using 13000+ restaurants, I rebuild its ratings with machine learning and map how algorithmic visibility actually distributes power.
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:53 AM
I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
Reposted by Len Metson
🚪Research suggests that the idea that voters are more persuaded by people who look or sound like them is a myth.
In our new blog post we break down the evidence that demographics matter much less than the content of the conversation.
campaignlab.uk/project/do-s...
In our new blog post we break down the evidence that demographics matter much less than the content of the conversation.
campaignlab.uk/project/do-s...
Do Shared Demographics Make You More Persuasive on the Doorstep? - Campaign Lab
Campaigners often assume that people are more likely to be persuaded by someone who looks or sounds like them, someone of a similar age, gender, or background. After all, research has long shown that ...
campaignlab.uk
December 4, 2025 at 6:03 PM
🚪Research suggests that the idea that voters are more persuaded by people who look or sound like them is a myth.
In our new blog post we break down the evidence that demographics matter much less than the content of the conversation.
campaignlab.uk/project/do-s...
In our new blog post we break down the evidence that demographics matter much less than the content of the conversation.
campaignlab.uk/project/do-s...
Reposted by Len Metson
🚨Data Update 🚨
We have released an updated version of our panel data. This version includes a correction to our p_ethnicity variables, which affected 7.8% of our respondents. There is also a very small correction to our geographic variables.
More ⬇️
www.britishelectionstudy.com/uncategorize...
We have released an updated version of our panel data. This version includes a correction to our p_ethnicity variables, which affected 7.8% of our respondents. There is also a very small correction to our geographic variables.
More ⬇️
www.britishelectionstudy.com/uncategorize...
Release Note: British Election Study Internet Panel v30.1 - The British Election Study
www.britishelectionstudy.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:40 PM
🚨Data Update 🚨
We have released an updated version of our panel data. This version includes a correction to our p_ethnicity variables, which affected 7.8% of our respondents. There is also a very small correction to our geographic variables.
More ⬇️
www.britishelectionstudy.com/uncategorize...
We have released an updated version of our panel data. This version includes a correction to our p_ethnicity variables, which affected 7.8% of our respondents. There is also a very small correction to our geographic variables.
More ⬇️
www.britishelectionstudy.com/uncategorize...
Reposted by Len Metson
A blog post giving a more thorough take on survey experiments and the credibility revolution: cyrussamii.com?p=4168
December 3, 2025 at 5:23 PM
A blog post giving a more thorough take on survey experiments and the credibility revolution: cyrussamii.com?p=4168
Reposted by Len Metson
Also the reply then should not be: let's do observational.
No, the reply then should be: let's do field experiments. ;)
No, the reply then should be: let's do field experiments. ;)
December 3, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Also the reply then should not be: let's do observational.
No, the reply then should be: let's do field experiments. ;)
No, the reply then should be: let's do field experiments. ;)
Reposted by Len Metson
I don't read the criticism as saying "survey experiments are bad", more, "this is an unbalanced diet"
December 3, 2025 at 12:20 PM
I don't read the criticism as saying "survey experiments are bad", more, "this is an unbalanced diet"
Whilst survey experiments are useful (and clearly popular), their proliferation is a bit troubling in light of papers like Carnes and Henderson (2025) - especially when studying questions where results (should) directly inform practice in "the field"
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
December 3, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Whilst survey experiments are useful (and clearly popular), their proliferation is a bit troubling in light of papers like Carnes and Henderson (2025) - especially when studying questions where results (should) directly inform practice in "the field"
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Only a few days left to apply for this fully-funded collaborative PhD with @lsegovernment.bsky.social and @campaign-lab.bsky.social!
It's a pretty unique position sat right between academia and "real world" campaigns - please share with someone who might be interested (and/or apply)!
It's a pretty unique position sat right between academia and "real world" campaigns - please share with someone who might be interested (and/or apply)!
Could not recommend this highly enough - LSE is a great place to be doing a PhD, and Campaign Lab are a fantastic organisation to collaborate with -
More than happy to talk to anyone thinking of applying!
More than happy to talk to anyone thinking of applying!
🚨 We have a cool new ESRC PhD studentship opportunity on the topic of political persuasion for someone interested in campaigning, field experiments and/or computational methods @lsegovernment.bsky.social, in collaboration with
@campaign-lab.bsky.social. All info 👇
www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse...
@campaign-lab.bsky.social. All info 👇
www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse...
December 3, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Only a few days left to apply for this fully-funded collaborative PhD with @lsegovernment.bsky.social and @campaign-lab.bsky.social!
It's a pretty unique position sat right between academia and "real world" campaigns - please share with someone who might be interested (and/or apply)!
It's a pretty unique position sat right between academia and "real world" campaigns - please share with someone who might be interested (and/or apply)!
Reposted by Len Metson
Could not recommend this highly enough - LSE is a great place to be doing a PhD, and Campaign Lab are a fantastic organisation to collaborate with -
More than happy to talk to anyone thinking of applying!
More than happy to talk to anyone thinking of applying!
🚨 We have a cool new ESRC PhD studentship opportunity on the topic of political persuasion for someone interested in campaigning, field experiments and/or computational methods @lsegovernment.bsky.social, in collaboration with
@campaign-lab.bsky.social. All info 👇
www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse...
@campaign-lab.bsky.social. All info 👇
www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse...
LSE Collaborative Studentship with Campaign Lab
LSE Collaborative Studentship with Campaign Lab
www.lse.ac.uk
October 6, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Could not recommend this highly enough - LSE is a great place to be doing a PhD, and Campaign Lab are a fantastic organisation to collaborate with -
More than happy to talk to anyone thinking of applying!
More than happy to talk to anyone thinking of applying!
Reposted by Len Metson
Political scientists love their survey experiments.
December 2, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Political scientists love their survey experiments.
Reposted by Len Metson
Or you can also get in touch with some of our current PhD students who work on related questions (and are on BlueSky) @lenmetson.com @isoldehegemann.bsky.social @antonkoenneke.de @benghix.bsky.social
November 28, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Or you can also get in touch with some of our current PhD students who work on related questions (and are on BlueSky) @lenmetson.com @isoldehegemann.bsky.social @antonkoenneke.de @benghix.bsky.social
Reposted by Len Metson
🚨 Please send in your application by 10 December to be considered for this ESRC studentship in collaboration with @campaign-lab.bsky.social. Both home and international students are eligible for funding. Some advice on how to apply below 👇
🚨 We have a cool new ESRC PhD studentship opportunity on the topic of political persuasion for someone interested in campaigning, field experiments and/or computational methods @lsegovernment.bsky.social, in collaboration with
@campaign-lab.bsky.social. All info 👇
www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse...
@campaign-lab.bsky.social. All info 👇
www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse...
LSE Collaborative Studentship with Campaign Lab
LSE Collaborative Studentship with Campaign Lab
www.lse.ac.uk
November 28, 2025 at 9:09 PM
🚨 Please send in your application by 10 December to be considered for this ESRC studentship in collaboration with @campaign-lab.bsky.social. Both home and international students are eligible for funding. Some advice on how to apply below 👇
Reposted by Len Metson
New report: What should we do about mayoral scrutiny? www.mysociety.org/2025/11/18/m...
Mayoral scrutiny: building an ecosystem of accountability
New report: Building and supporting civic scrutiny of devolution
www.mysociety.org
November 18, 2025 at 10:39 AM
New report: What should we do about mayoral scrutiny? www.mysociety.org/2025/11/18/m...
Reposted by Len Metson
The UK outright engaged in stationary banditry, stealing from the poor to give to the rich, all in order to appease the most petty xenophobe bigots on earth. And I feel sure it won't even work on the Home Secretary's terms, ultimately all this will strengthen not weaken Reform.
The Sun has been told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday propose confiscating jewellery, watches, necklaces from asylum seekers to meet asylum costs
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
November 17, 2025 at 7:44 AM
The UK outright engaged in stationary banditry, stealing from the poor to give to the rich, all in order to appease the most petty xenophobe bigots on earth. And I feel sure it won't even work on the Home Secretary's terms, ultimately all this will strengthen not weaken Reform.
Reposted by Len Metson
It becomes overly clear why #MeToo was considered such a threat by powerful men and why they have done everything to mock and discredit it.
November 13, 2025 at 1:57 PM
It becomes overly clear why #MeToo was considered such a threat by powerful men and why they have done everything to mock and discredit it.
Reposted by Len Metson
🚨 NEW in @bjpols.bsky.social : When Partygate hit Westminster, trust in Scottish politicians increased. Our experiments reveal a "contrast effect" - scandals at one level can make the other look better by comparison. Who lost most trust in Westminster? Scottish unionists. Read now #OpenAccess 👇
November 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM
🚨 NEW in @bjpols.bsky.social : When Partygate hit Westminster, trust in Scottish politicians increased. Our experiments reveal a "contrast effect" - scandals at one level can make the other look better by comparison. Who lost most trust in Westminster? Scottish unionists. Read now #OpenAccess 👇
Reposted by Len Metson
"While testing one dimension at a time can yield simple results, those effects may not generalise to richer, real-world contexts."
Read our new POAL Methods Briefs on Conjoint Experiments from Thomas Robinson!
Link: www.poal.co.uk/research/met...
Read our new POAL Methods Briefs on Conjoint Experiments from Thomas Robinson!
Link: www.poal.co.uk/research/met...
Public Opinion Analytics Lab
The website of the Public Opinion Analytics Lab
www.poal.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:47 AM
"While testing one dimension at a time can yield simple results, those effects may not generalise to richer, real-world contexts."
Read our new POAL Methods Briefs on Conjoint Experiments from Thomas Robinson!
Link: www.poal.co.uk/research/met...
Read our new POAL Methods Briefs on Conjoint Experiments from Thomas Robinson!
Link: www.poal.co.uk/research/met...
Reposted by Len Metson
📄 New WP version out - full overhaul!
The Politics of Evidence Selection (w/ @jesperasring.bsky.social )
Comments welcome!
🔗 osf.io/preprints/so...
The Politics of Evidence Selection (w/ @jesperasring.bsky.social )
Comments welcome!
🔗 osf.io/preprints/so...
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
📄 New WP version out - full overhaul!
The Politics of Evidence Selection (w/ @jesperasring.bsky.social )
Comments welcome!
🔗 osf.io/preprints/so...
The Politics of Evidence Selection (w/ @jesperasring.bsky.social )
Comments welcome!
🔗 osf.io/preprints/so...
Reposted by Len Metson
The crucial bit of this tactical 'only Labour or Reform can win here' VI poll, though, is that Labour and Reform would be tied.
Not enough Lib Dem or Green voters are (right now) prepared to tactically vote for Labour to offset the number of Tories willing to tactically vote for Reform.
Not enough Lib Dem or Green voters are (right now) prepared to tactically vote for Labour to offset the number of Tories willing to tactically vote for Reform.
November 5, 2025 at 6:21 PM
The crucial bit of this tactical 'only Labour or Reform can win here' VI poll, though, is that Labour and Reform would be tied.
Not enough Lib Dem or Green voters are (right now) prepared to tactically vote for Labour to offset the number of Tories willing to tactically vote for Reform.
Not enough Lib Dem or Green voters are (right now) prepared to tactically vote for Labour to offset the number of Tories willing to tactically vote for Reform.
Reposted by Len Metson
🚨 EPSS Belfast 2026 Call for Papers - One week to go! 🚨
Don't forget to submit your paper or panel proposal to the European Political Science Society @epssnet.bsky.social 2026 conference - just one week to go before the deadline: epssnet.org/belfast-2026...
Don't forget to submit your paper or panel proposal to the European Political Science Society @epssnet.bsky.social 2026 conference - just one week to go before the deadline: epssnet.org/belfast-2026...
Call for Papers | EPSS Belfast 2026 Conference
Submit your abstract or full paper for EPSS Belfast 2026. Share cutting‑edge political science research, network with peers & contribute to academic impact.
epssnet.org
October 31, 2025 at 2:00 PM
🚨 EPSS Belfast 2026 Call for Papers - One week to go! 🚨
Don't forget to submit your paper or panel proposal to the European Political Science Society @epssnet.bsky.social 2026 conference - just one week to go before the deadline: epssnet.org/belfast-2026...
Don't forget to submit your paper or panel proposal to the European Political Science Society @epssnet.bsky.social 2026 conference - just one week to go before the deadline: epssnet.org/belfast-2026...