They spent five days watching pubgoers in Bolton - one thing surprised them

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Politicians and pubs are a combination as old as the hills, with even the likes of teetotal ex-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak turning up for photo shoots around the country on the election trail this year.

But if our decision-makers stuck about after the cameras disappeared and observed the conversations ordinary pub-goers were having, would they be better informed about their lives and what makes them tick?

That's what Ed Shackle and Bertie Wnek, two researchers from policy, research, opinion and strategy consultancy Public First have done, spending five days in pubs in Bolton to hear what kind of things punters talk about. Read more: The 'generous' Bolton pub that's been helping struggling families for more than four years Chatting in their natural environment rather than over the phone for an opinion poll or in an organised focus group, they're more likely to want to talk about work and retirement, holidays or dodgy VAR decisions affecting vital football matches.

But speaking on The Northern Agenda podcast, Mr Shackle and Mr Wnek describe how their most striking finding was the massive popularity of karaoke, something that's "immediately obvious to anyone spending time in any of Bolton’s pubs". To hear more about the project listen to the full interview on the podcast here: Their report, 'The Pub and the People, An Afterword', says that in the town: "Pavement signs compete with one another to offer karaoke at longer intervals on more nights of the week; out-of-tune voices regularly fill the street; in the Bag of Nails, patrons have the option to do karaoke for every minute that the pub’s doors are open throughout the year." During their five days spent in 11 Bolton pubs, the researchers speak to a former pub landlord,