The 2024 General Election offered the opportunity to nurture a new cohort of R&D supporters among elected MPs. To bolster the R&D community’s political arguments, CaSE sought to demonstrate that R&D is relevant to voters in constituencies across the UK.
We conducted fresh polling in the run up to the General Election that explored public support for MPs taking actions to support R&D, and ran analysis to predict attitudes at a constituency level. These insights were used to engage parliamentary candidates and MPs to demonstrate appetite for local conversations about R&D.
CaSE’s campaign received positive responses from across the political spectrum, generating new relationships and follow-on meetings with MPs – including with those who would not normally have been on CaSE’s radar as likely supporters of R&D. We are continuing our engagement with MPs to grow the pool of political champions for R&D and generate impact for the sector.
2026 Devolved Nation Elections
Do you want to join CaSE’s campaign to nurture R&D supporters in Holyrood and the Senedd ahead of the 2026 Scottish and Welsh elections?
Get in touchCampaign timeline
March-June 2024
New public opinion research explores attitudes to politically salient and local issues
May 2024
UK General Election called and parliament dissolved
June 2024
Constituency-level analysis predicts attitudes to R&D at a local level
June 2024
Guide to R&D on the Doorstep demonstrates appetite for local level conversations about R&D and equips candidates to talk about R&D with constituents
June 2024
Bespoke emails sent to 3,687 UK parliamentary candidates with constituency analysis and guidance for talking about R&D during the campaign
July 2024
UK General Election held with Labour winning a majority and forming a new government
Sept 2024
Personalised Welcome Packs arrive on the desks of all 650 MPs, highlighting member case studies of regional R&D
Public Attitudes to R&D and the General Election 2024
The General Election was a crucial time for R&D advocates. To support them to make an effective case for R&D to both political and public audiences, CaSE conducted a series of polls to explore attitudes to R&D and topics relevant to the election, such as economic growth and how people would like their MP to act on issues related to R&D and their local area.
Constituency-level analysis of public attitudes to R&D
Using results from our polling carried out in March/April 2024 and June 2024, which polled a total of 6,111 UK adults, CaSE commissioned a Multi-Level Regression with Poststratification (MRP) analysis on 13 questions, to model the expected attitudes to R&D at a constituency level.
CaSE’s Guide to R&D on the Doorstep
Using constituency-level analysis of public attitudes to Research & Development, CaSE developed a guide for parliamentary candidates to support advocacy for R&D during the General Election campaign and into the next Parliament, equipping and encouraging candidates to talk about R&D with constituents.
Parliamentary Candidate engagement
CaSE wrote to 81% of the candidates standing for Parliament in the 2024 general election, representing every candidate with publicly available contact details. Our aim was to emphasise the importance of R&D and help them have conversations about it with their potential constituents. We received an enthusiastic response from parliamentary candidates across the political spectrum.
To be honest it opened my eyes on what can be achieved, so I’ll be using the information in the near future. and I am very happy to champion it.
Parliamentary Candidate, responding to CaSE’s campaign materials on R&D
Making R&D a local priority
17 Jun 2024
Find out more about the rationale behind this part of the campaign
Parliamentary Candidates and CaSE
03 Jul 2024
Explore the engagement across the political spectrum in more detail
MP Welcome Pack
Following the outcome of the election we sent a personalised Welcome Pack to every Westminster MP, encouraging them to start a conversation about what R&D means to their constituency and the wider UK. Each pack contained constituency-level public opinion analysis to attract attention and highlighted the excellent work of CaSE members in the MP’s region through R&D case studies.
Let’s work together
CaSE is the leading independent voice for UK R&D. We are a charity supported by a diverse membership including businesses, universities, professional bodies, research charities and individual members.
