Mates Hold the Balance of Power in This Election

LONDON, April 26, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Photos

Forget the polls, the pundits, even the TV debates, for the General Election is being decided between friends, families and colleagues...over dinner.

As the nation prepares to go to the polls on 6th May, new research from YouGov commissioned by PizzaExpress reveals how more than a third (37 percent) of everyday dinner conversations have become dominated by heated pre-Election debate.

And dinner partners are twice as likely to influence our voting decision as party political broadcasts and adverts, and almost three times as likely to sway our views as anything we read in the newspapers.

Whilst 42 percent of those questioned said that nothing would influence the way they intended to vote, nearly a quarter (24 percent) of the rest indicated that the biggest influence on them is conversation with their friends, family and colleagues rather than media or the parties' own campaigns.

And election fever has set the tongues wagging of even the least politically engaged, with under-24 year olds instigating 10 percent more dinner table debates about the Election than forty to fifthsomethings.

Among all age groups, the economy (61 percent) and distrust of politicians (61 percent) are the most talked about issues, followed by rises in income tax, VAT and NICs (52 percent). The state of health services (39 percent) was followed by schools (29 percent), and the use of spin (29 percent).

Topping the list of popular dinnertime conversation topics, political banter even seems to be displacing our age-old obsessions with salacious celebrity scandal and sport. Half (49 percent) of men claim that in the past fortnight they are now giving more talk time to political spin-doctors than personal sporting heroes, while Westminster matters have overtaken celebrity gossip sixty-percent of women.

And speaking of toppings and as an aid to "feeding the conversation", PizzaExpress has immortalized the most talked about Election issues - from the national debt and education to parliamentary distrust and even class - into a special one-off , and entirely edible portrait of the General Election dubbed the 'People's Pizza'.

Created by Head Chef Antonio Romani and modeled on a traditional four-seasons pizza, the 'People's Pizza' pairs political topics - such as the row over taxbreaks for married couples - with a host of familiar and unusual toppings in proportion to how much they're being debated at dinner. This includes caviar to represent debate about class, background and equal opportunity, dough balls for the national deficit, and bacon to signify rows over rises in National Insurance Contributions and VAT.

Each issue was picked following a PizzaExpress/YouGov poll of the most popular political issues currently being debated at dinnertime and will provide a readily digestible mandate that party leaders overlook at their peril.

As well as being delivered to the leaders of the three main political parties, exclusive versions of the 'People's Pizza' will also go on sale in key marginal seats across the country where the stakes of public discussion are highest.

John Curtice, Professor of Politics at University of Strathclyde, added: "Politics is most definitely on the menu at this election but we also know from previous academic research that people often learn about politics through conversations with family and friends,. It's clear that mealtime conversations will help determine who people think does have the best answers."

But these conversations are not casual ones. They reflect big worries in voters' minds. And with previous academic research showing how people often learn about politics through conversations with family and friends, mealtime conversations will help determine who people think does have the best answers."

Antonio Romani, Head Chef at PizzaExpress: "With more than a third of our customers chewing over the big issues of the day while dining in our restaurants, what better way to show what the hot election topics are than on a pizza. The 'People's Pizza' should certainly provide some food for thought. And if politicians are wise, they'll recognise that today's dinner table debate could decide tomorrow's government."

Notes to Editors

About the research

YouGov surveyed 2,315 people about their meal time conversations between 12th and 14th April, 2010

PizzaExpress

PizzaExpress is one of the UK's best-loved restaurant brands, famed for bringing pizzas to the UK for the first time back in 1965. PizzaExpress now has over 370 restaurants on the high street.

The "People's Pizza" will also be available at restaurants in high profile swing seats, including the former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith (Redditch), Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw (Exeter), and Lib Dem Home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne (Eastleigh) and in Westminster.

A picture/s accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk.

SOURCE PizzaExpress