The Front Page podcast: How to fix a broken polling system

Polls have been making big mistakes lately, but there is a way to fix it. Photo / Chris Gorman

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's whether we can trust polls any more. Hosted by Frances Cook.

Audio from this video podcast is available on podcast apps one week after its release on Herald Premium. You can subscribe to this podcast on all the main apps, including Apple podcasts here, iHeartRadio here, Spotify here, and Google podcasts here.

People love to rag on political polls, and for the latest lot, they might actually have a point.

Newshub and 1 News released polls on the same night that showed drastically different results. One where Labour plummeted and National came out ahead, the other where Labour could govern alone.

What on earth is going on, and how can two reputable polls have such entirely different results?

It's not the first time either, with pollsters missing Brexit, and the election on Donald Trump.

Polls have long been a way to check the mood of the nation, and sometimes important decisions are made on the basis of them.

But now you could be forgiven for thinking we should give up on them entirely.

Herald reporter Damien Venuto has investigated this, and the answers are fascinating.

We discussed the many elements that can make a poll go wrong, and how the experts want to change things.

For the interview, watch the video podcast.

To read Damien's full story on the issue, click here.

If you have questions about Herald investigations, or want to stay up to date on social media, you can find host Frances Cook on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.