Ashdown: Polls 'materially affected' election outcome

Former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown has said opinion polls "probably materially affected the outcome of the election".

"I was seduced by them like everybody else", Mr Ashdown said.

Speaking to presenter Edward Stourton, the peer said he was "instinctively against" banning opinion polls because "the public have a right to know how to use their vote so that they can use it intelligently" right up until polling day.

But he urged polling companies to "get their house in order", and warned that if they do not then "people are going to think about alternatives".

(Image: BBC)