Award

Post Poll Candidate Survey

THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

11 Mar 2026 at 18:05

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Electoral Commission has engaged in a contract with Queen Mary University of London for a Post Poll Candidate Survey following the May 2026 elections, encompassing English local elections, the Scottish Parliament election, and the Senedd election. This procurement process is within the 'services' category, with a budget of £50,997 GBP. The contract, awarded through a direct procurement method, is aimed at acquiring specialist research services to enhance electoral process evaluation. This initiative began with a market review in December 2025 which supported a direct award due to the absence of alternative providers capable of covering the scope required. The contract process is at the award stage with the contract period set to commence on 1 April 2026 and conclude on 30 March 2027.

This tender offers significant opportunities for businesses specialising in research services and those with expertise in electoral processes. Specifically, organisations that possess advanced capabilities in designing and delivering comprehensive surveys and datasets can leverage this contract to strengthen their portfolio in public sector consultancy. With Queen Mary University of London being the primary supplier, this process demonstrates the value of established academic expertise in the field. Businesses with a strong grasp of survey administration and data processing in a time-sensitive setting could benefit from examining aligned tenders in the educational or governmental sectors, thus catalysing business growth.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Post Poll Candidate Survey

Notice Description

Provision of specialist research services to design and deliver a post-poll survey of candidates standing in the May 2026 elections (English local elections, Scottish Parliament election and Senedd election). The services include: * Development and refinement of a candidate survey questionnaire aligned to the Electoral Commission's post-poll evaluation framework * Large-scale identification and compilation of publicly available candidate contact details, including manual collection of candidate email addresses * Data collection and survey administration within the statutory election timetable * Measures to maximise participation and minimise respondent burden within a small and hard-to-reach population * Data processing, quality assurance and dataset preparation * Analytical support and methodological advice to strengthen robustness and representativeness * Delivery of research outputs and datasets to the Authority The supplier will provide the services directly using specialist academic expertise and established candidate research methodologies. The services must be delivered within the defined election period, with contact data collection undertaken during the three-week window between the close of nominations and polling day.

Procurement Information

The Electoral Commission requires specialist research services to deliver its 2026 post-poll Candidate Survey following the May 2026 English local elections, Scottish Parliament election and Senedd election. The survey forms part of the Commission's statutory post-poll research programme evaluating electoral processes and participant experience. Queen Mary University of London conducts an established independent programme of candidate surveys covering the same electoral events and engaging the same candidate population. Award to an alternative supplier would be likely to result in separate surveys being conducted using comparable methodologies and targeting the same limited population of election candidates. This creates a material risk of duplicated engagement, reduced participation rates, and lower overall data quality. A coordinated delivery model enables alignment of methodology and reduces duplication of research activity involving a small and specialised research population. The requirement includes identification of publicly available candidate contact information, including manual compilation of candidate email addresses, to support participation across the candidate population. This activity must be undertaken within the statutory election timetable, with data collection occurring during the period between the close of nominations and polling day. A market review undertaken in December 2025 did not identify alternative providers delivering candidate experience surveys with comparable scope, frequency, and electoral coverage across local and devolved elections. For these reasons, the Commission considers that competition is not feasible due to objective technical circumstances and proposes to enter into a direct award.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0667c6
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/022056-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

CPV Codes

73110000 - Research services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£50,997 Under £100K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
11 Mar 20263 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
11 Mar 20263 days ago
Contract Period
31 Mar 2026 - 30 Mar 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
EC1Y 8YZ
Post Town
Central London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI4 Inner London - East
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI43 Haringey and Islington
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Islington
Electoral Ward
Bunhill
Westminster Constituency
Islington South and Finsbury

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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