Evidence suggests the voter landscape has fragmented since the 2024 General Election, with five parties currently polling at greater than 10%, and the Green Party and Reform UK notably expanding their voter bases. Significant changes are anticipated at the ballot box in the devolved and mayoral elections in May 2026.
Why understanding the voter landscape matters
CaSE’s recent public opinion research indicates that prospective Reform voters are less supportive of R&D investment, while those intending to vote Reform or Green are more likely to feel R&D’s benefits aren’t felt equally across society. If our sector doesn’t take time to understand the views of those who are feel more distant from R&D, we risk being caught off guard in a similar way to the Brexit referendum.
Robust evidence is needed to help R&D organisations to prepare for, and navigate, a fragmenting political landscape. To help fill this gap, CaSE is producing an evidence-led review on how the shifting voter landscape will affect R&D advocacy, with practical insights that can guide R&D organisations towards landing the right messages at the right moments.
The study reinforces the need to make R&D matter to more people. Although some findings were positive, there was another story underneath; one where many people struggle to think of ways R&D benefits them or their families, or to connect it with the issues that matter most to them now.
Such weak connections won’t create the public champions our sector needs.
“I struggled to connect R&D to benefits felt by ‘me’ – I know what R&D is, but I could not relate it to my life”
Female, 25-34, Clacton, C1
Project timeline
February
Call for evidence to CaSE members and other R&D organisations to identify knowledge gaps and collate a library of relevant data sources.
March
Evidence analysis to extract relevant insights for R&D advocacy and identify factors, themes and issues shaping voting patterns.
April
Co-creation workshop to digest the analysis and collaboratively identify the factors, themes and issues we want to prioritise for fieldwork.
May
Core fieldwork to qualitatively explore voter concerns and motivations
June
Deep dive workshop – convening sponsors to digest relevant findings so far, and shape the message testing.
July
Deep dive message testing – using large-scale nationally representative polling to test and refine messages and anticipate counterarguments.
September
Launching a report on the key drivers for R&D among voters, anticipated positioning of political parties, and practical messaging guidance.
The core element of the project is funded via CaSE’s grant from the Wellcome Trust, but we are seeking partners to sponsor and shape ‘deep dives’ into polarising issues or risks which might undermine the sector’s messaging and political advocacy – these might range from immigration to NIMBY-ism or national security. Each deep dive will use large-scale polling to test messaging, explore counterarguments and yield practical advocacy insights.”
The Opportunity: Deep Dives
While CaSE’s Wellcome grant will fund the cross-cutting evidence review and fieldwork on behalf of the sector, there is an opportunity to go further.
Building on these core elements, CaSE can deliver additional fieldwork and message testing on polarising topics or risks that could undermine the sector’s messaging and political advocacy. These ‘deep dives’ might explore how R&D intersects with voter opinions towards immigration, NIMBY-ism or national security, and would use large-scale polling to test messaging for each issue, and yield practical insights to help navigate these challenging topics and anticipate counter arguments.
These deep dives are only possible with support from sponsors, and offer a more tailored output that ensures you have the evidence base you need to support communication and public affairs strategies over the coming years. This is in addition to sponsors having the opportunity to be more deeply involved in the development of the core project, ensuring they benefit from the cross-cutting findings it will yield.
Deep dives can be sponsored by individual organisations, or a consortium of partners who share a goal. Each sponsor would benefit from:
- Identifying your target issue(s), with support from CaSE if desired.
- Guaranteed space at a Deep Dive Workshop, giving your team direct access to shape the fieldwork plans.
- Priority access to emerging findings and implications.
- Tailored reporting to support your organisation’s next steps.
- An opportunity to co-brand your deep dive reporting, if desired.
Sponsors will support CaSE to deliver the additional fieldwork, analysis and reporting. This cost can be met by a single sponsor or shared among a consortium of partners.
To join this project or find out more, please contact:
Henry Gates, Director for Sector Engagement
A stronger future for R&D advocacy
If we can make R&D matter to more people, we can radically transform our sector’s advocacy with the public as partners in making our case to politicians.
CaSE has been exploring public opinions towards R&D as a political and societal priority, to help our sector articulate a compelling vision for the purpose of R&D to society, built around the issues that we know matter to people. By improving our understanding of public opinion towards our sector, we are able to support R&D organisations to forge a stronger relationship with the public and make their work feel more tangible to people’s lives.
Our aim is for politicians to see an R&D sector with broad and sustained public appeal. At CaSE, we are supporting the sector to develop clear, evidence-led language and messages that can more clearly articulate R&D’s benefits. This language aims to help our sector to feel more human and more local, positioning itself as a tool to deliver political and societal priorities.
About CaSE
Campaign for Science and Engineering (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 individuals. Our members span the whole breadth of R&D – including discovery research, science, engineering, and innovation across the public, private, and charitable sectors.
We collaborate with our members, partners and the public to lend our clear, expert voice to decisions about research and development. We specialise in developing non-partisan, responsive solutions that help research and innovation to thrive in ways that improve people’s lives and livelihoods.