Public boards are cases laid out in public by Evidence Board, run by MTG Technical Consulting Ltd. This page says what goes on them, how we check them, and how to tell us when something is wrong.
What a public board is
A public board is a published version of a case: the items, the people and organisations, the links between them, and the dates, fixed when we publish it. It changes only when we publish a new version, and the board lists every version and what changed.
We publish every public board ourselves, and we are responsible for what we publish.
Facts, and where they come from
- Every fact has a source. Each event on a board links to the record it comes from: a division list, Hansard, a register entry. An event without a source isn’t published.
- The primary record comes first. For a politician that is Parliament’s own data: their seat, party, posts and committees, their votes, Hansard and the registers.
- A vote is shown as it was cast: Aye or No on the question actually put, and whether it was with or against most of their party. We don’t describe a vote by its supposed effect.
- Not voting isn’t counted against anyone. There are many reasons for it (pairing, illness, ministerial duties), so we don’t show it as a position.
Their own words
A board can also show what someone said or promised: in Parliament, in their manifesto, in a leaflet or a speech. We quote it word for word, dated, with where they said it. A long quotation is cut, never reworded.
We record that a promise was made. We don’t judge whether it was kept: the board shows the promise, and the record, side by side, and leaves the conclusion to you.
No opinions
Public boards carry no assessments, scores, ratings or AI-written reviews, and nothing about anyone’s honesty, motives or character. Where a fact could be read more than one way, we show the fact and its source.
Who is on them
We began with the people who lead the parties in the House of Commons and run the economy: the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of every party with five or more MPs, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the shadow Chancellor. That list follows a rule, not our choice, and every board is made the same way.
Corrections
Every public board has See something wrong?. Anyone can use it: a reader who spots a mistake, or the person on the board.
- If you give us an email, we confirm by email that we have your report.
- A person checks it against the sources.
- If the board is wrong, we correct it and publish a new version, and the board’s corrections log says what was wrong and what it says now. We don’t remove the log.
Taking a board down
If you tell us a board is unlawful (for example defamatory, or in breach of privacy or copyright), we look at it straight away, and where the concern looks serious we take the board down while we do. Use See something wrong? and choose “A legal concern”, or write to support@mtgtechnical.com.
Neutrality and elections
- We cover politicians of every party by the same method, and publish no endorsements and no advice on how to vote.
- We don’t pay to promote public boards.
- In the run-up to an election, we check any change to a candidate’s board with particular care.
- A board stays up after someone leaves office, and its record shows when they left.
What we leave out
We publish nothing about a politician’s family, staff or private life, and nothing about private individuals beyond what an official record names in connection with the politician’s public role (for example a registered donor). We don’t publish home addresses or personal contact details. How we handle personal data is in our Privacy Policy.
Independence and licences
Evidence Board is independent, and has no link to Parliament or to any party. Boards contain Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.