Projected National Share (PNS) is a statistic used in British politics. It refers to the translation of local election results to reflect national party support in a future

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. PNS shows which party has won a local election. The numbers give an impression of how the

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

are faring if the entire country cast a local ballot. It can be calculated in different ways.

History

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

has calculated PNS since 1982. They use key wards which are reflective of the country as a whole in order to calculate party share. Two academics at the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

Colin Rallings Colin Rallings is a British academic, Professor of Politics in the School of Sociology, Politics & Law at the University of Plymouth. Rallings’ first degree was in Politics and Modern History from the University of Manchester. Subsequently, he ...

and

Michael Thrasher Michael Thrasher is a British academic, Professor of Politics in the School of Sociology, Politics & Law at the University of Plymouth. He is also Sky News' election analyst. Thrasher was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire in 1953. he receive ...

, calculate National Equivalent share (NEV) using a different approach. Author and peer

Mark Pack, Baron Pack Mark Anthony Pack, Baron Pack (born 27 July 1970) is a British politician who has served as the president of the Liberal Democrats since 1 January 2020. After the party's leader, Jo Swinson, lost her seat in the 2019 United Kingdom general elec ...

maintains a historical record named LocalBase of both sets of results.

By local election

*Independents, residents associations and minor parties

References

{{Reflist Psephology Elections in the United Kingdom British political phrases (1950–1999) Political terminology in the United Kingdom Polling terms