Amid political fragmentation, flipping the “Broken Britain” narrative can position R&D as a source of hope

27 Aug 2026

If the research and development (R&D) sector is to secure cross-party political support in the years to come it must flip the “Broken Britain” narrative and position R&D as a source for hope that can solve societal issues.

New research from Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) makes it clear that R&D advocates must reconsider both how we engage – to ensure we reach voters across society with compelling narratives – and how we act – to ensure that we work in ways that can earn lasting public support.

R&D in a shifting voter landscape explores how changes in the UK’s political landscape could impact R&D, drawing on a review of existing evidence and new qualitative and quantitative research. It builds on CaSE’s extensive public attitudes programme and the wealth of expertise across the R&D sector.

Explore the full report

The research found:

Fragmentation is creating a new political landscape: A new political cleavage has formed, shifting from class to culture, with populist parties emerging as a symptom of fragmentation, rather than its cause.
Voters are united by pessimism, but divided by its causes: A pervasive pessimism unites voters and centres on a “Broken Britain” narrative, with immigration the sharpest dividing line.
R&D enjoys broad public support, but this consensus is at risk: R&D gains broad in-principle support, and often acts as a source of hope – however, this support is shallow and stark divisions appear around specific issues.

The findings make a clear case for action and identify the basis for a more responsive narrative for different voter groups.

CaSE has made a series of recommendations, all of which must be grounded in genuine, open engagement with people from across all parts of society. We must reach people in the here and now, while recognising that long-term support won’t result from narratives alone.

How we engage:

The R&D sector must flip the “Broken Britain” narrative and position R&D as a source of hope.
The R&D sector must make its case outside crisis moments.
The R&D sector must adapt its messaging to suit a new voter landscape, and avoid stereotyping voter groups.
The R&D sector must create and champion narratives that make R&D feel more human, more local and more relatable.

How we act:

The R&D sector must proactively listen to the public, partnering with them to make our work better.
The R&D sector must open up the research process by better valuing and resourcing public participation.
The R&D sector must prioritise and incentivise trustworthy behaviours.
The R&D sector must explore and evaluate ways to collaboratively put insights into practice.

This report draws on a review of external research, an analysis of CaSE’s own evidence, in-depth qualitative fieldwork with a mix of 25 voters and non-voters, and a nationally representative survey of 4,173 UK adults. All CaSE’s public opinion research is supported by a consortium of research agencies, led by Icaro. This project focuses on the voter groups* of each of the five main political parties, defined as those regularly polling over 10% in voting intention surveys in early 2026 – Conservative and Unionist Party, Green Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, and Reform UK – as well those who do not plan to vote.

Commenting on the research:

“In this fragmented landscape, flipping the Broken Britain narrative is the best shot our sector has at connecting across voter groups and preserving cross-party support for R&D. If we can change how we work to be more attuned to the public’s priorities, we can address the near universal sense of pessimism we see with a story of hope. A story about where R&D is solving problems, improving lives and generating growth.”

Dr Ben Bleasdale

Director of Public Opinion, Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE)

“Whether research is curiosity-driven or more applied, we should create spaces and mechanisms to truly listen to the public and their experiences, investing in the tools and evidence sources we need to stay responsive to evolving societal priorities.

“CaSE is committed to supporting the sector to achieve this. We will continue to invest in generating robust, detailed evidence and convening R&D organisations to respond to the findings. The vision for the R&D sector in 2045, developed in collaboration with the sector as part of our Reimagining R&D project, is a core part of this process.”

Dr Daniel Rathbone

Deputy Executive Director, Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE)

“From a methodological perspective, a mixed methods approach has proven invaluable when looking at this issue.

“The qualitative research allowed us to get under the surface and hear real people talking about their real lives, concerns and aspirations. Alongside this, being able to return to a data set as rich as CaSE’s tracker study – Public Attitudes to R&D 2025 – and interrogate it with another lens shows the value of collecting such data proactively and at regular intervals. We have then built on that data with a new quantitative survey, focussing on how the landscape is shifting. Together, these insights offer a genuinely three-dimensional picture.”

Phil Downing, Director

Icaro

The main conclusions from across the research:

Fragmentation is creating a new political landscape

A new political cleavage is reshaping British politics, with party loyalty at a historic low. The organising axis of British politics has moved from economic class to education, age and cultural values, and institutional trust has collapsed to historically unprecedented lows.

Challenger parties are a symptom of this fragmentation, not its cause. Populist parties have emerged simultaneously on the right and the left, and the Greens and Reform UK are best understood as mirror images of each other, on different sides of the same dealignment process.

Voters are united by pessimism, but divided by its causes

A pervasive pessimism unites voters and centres on a “Broken Britain” narrative. There is a shared sense that the country is in decline and that institutions no longer work for ordinary people.

Immigration is the sharpest dividing line, but a sense of unfairness pervades all groups. Voters share a sense that the social contract is broken and unfair, but hold differing views on the root cause – being immigrants and benefit claimants for Reform and many Conservative voters; and wealth concentration and inequality for Green and some Labour voters.

R&D enjoys broad public support, but this consensus is at risk

R&D gains support from voters despite broader fragmentation and is often a source of hope. Our quantitative research shows that in-principle support for Government investment in R&D never drops below a majority for any voter group, and British science is one of the top sources of hope among a largely pessimistic electorate.

The consensus around R&D is shallow and stark divisions appear around specific issues. Few feel they know much about UK R&D and, without prompting, R&D can land as a cold and unfamiliar abstraction that many struggle to relate to their own lives or ambitions. This lack of familiarity risks R&D being linked to wider attitudes towards government spending, which often focus on waste or scandals. Moreover, R&D on certain issues, like climate change and defence, or the best way to tension global collaboration against domestic job creation, expose strong divisions along party lines.

Key statistics from the quantitative research

Broad agreement is found on statements such as “the world is at a dangerous point right now” (75%) and “government should listen more to scientific evidence” (64%). By contrast, immigration is highly polarising, with 16% of Green voters but 90% of Restore Britain voters saying it has made the country worse.
Among 18 possible government ambitions tested, national self-sufficiency, protecting rural spaces and eldercare support each gain majority agreement of around six in ten. Securing the border is the most polarising, whereas scientific ingenuity is the least partisan ambition for government to pursue.
There are pockets of hope among the public, with family and friendships, public services and British scientific and technological innovation as the top sources.
Only 16% feel they know a lot about the R&D being done in the UK. Despite this, 69% think it is important for government to invest in R&D and 61% think it makes a significant economic contribution. Support for government investment is seen across voter groups, ranging from 61%–65% (Restore Britain, Reform UK) to 78%–81% (Labour, Liberal Democrat).
When asked what government aspirations for R&D should be, the top choice is jobs for the new generation, framed around building homegrown scientists (47%), which comes well ahead of global collaboration (29%) or attracting scientists from around the world (25%). Green voters lean towards global collaboration while Reform UK and Restore Britain voters prioritise domestic jobs. Most voter groups would prioritise biology and medical technologies over other types, with defence and clean energy technologies splitting the public down party lines.

This work was part funded by a grant from Wellcome (318810/Z/24/Z).

About this research

All CaSE’s public opinion research is supported by a consortium of research agencies. This study was conducted by Icaro, a Market Research Society (MRS) Company Partner, Brook Lyndhurst and The Social Agency. The panel provider for the quantitative fieldwork was Yonder Data Solutions.

*This report uses vote intention figures drawn from our own general population survey and are not the output of a dedicated political opinion poll. They should not be compared directly with, or read alongside, published voting intention polls. Unlike polls conducted by British Polling Council member organisations, our figures have not been adjusted for a respondent’s certainty or likelihood to vote, for known patterns of differential non-response by political affiliation (sometimes termed “shy voter” effects), or rebased to exclude “don’t know” or “would not vote” responses, as is standard practice for headline voting intention polling. We use this question to segment our sample by political affiliation for analysis, not to estimate election outcomes.

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.

CaSE’s public opinion programme aims to generate insights and data-informed advocacy tools that can support a behaviour change in how our sector advocates for R&D, with the aim of making R&D matter to more people. This programme is supported by a £2.7m grant from Wellcome for 2024-29, building on CaSE’s 2021-24 Discovery Decade programme.