Show of hands no indication of majority

APPEARANCES can be deceptive! A few hours after Liz Truss’s resignation, Fiona Bruce asked her Question Time audience if they wanted a general election.

Lots of hands were raised and Bruce noted that almost every member of the audience wanted an election. Looking at the sea of hands, that did seem to be the case, but I froze the frame and counted. In fact, most of the audience actually kept their hands down (check it on iPlayer).

I’m not a Conservative voter and I would prefer a general election myself, but I think unscientific methodologies like ‘shows of hands’ should have no place when discussing important issues such as the country’s future.

Simon Hendrick, St Austell, Cornwall