UK General Election 2024
A general election presents an amazing opportunity to make an impact. CaSE, and its predecessor Save British Science, has advocated for the needs and priorities of UK research and development in each of the nine general elections held since our inception in 1986. This year we were as active as ever in representing the sector at a time of political decision making.
General Election Science Hustings
Ahead of the General Election, CaSE and partners organised a Science, Innovation and Technology hustings. Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat representatives went head-to-head as they discussed their party’s policies on science and technology. The event, hosted at The Royal Society, was organised by CaSE, The Royal Society, The British Academy, The Academy of Medical Sciences, The Royal Academy of Engineering, and The Foundation for Science and Technology. You can read more in the events section of this review.
Parliamentary Candidate Engagement
With a significant shift in the make-up of Parliament expected ahead of the election, it was crucial that CaSE made the most of the opportunity to demonstrate to potential new policy-makers that R&D can help to solve their problems and achieve their goals. Our public opinion polling has shown that most people – regardless of how they intended to vote – want the future government to pay more attention to science and innovation.
In the run up to the UK General Election in early July, the team delivered a major public-centred advocacy campaign to engage Parliamentary Candidates – aiming to spur their interest in R&D as a local and national issue. CaSE produced a first-of-its-kind constituency map of predicted public opinions towards R&D, and used this to send a personalised mail-out to 3,687 candidates highlighting the level of interest among their constituents and sharing our new Guide to Engaging on the Doorstep.
Our call to candidates was clear: if you are elected by the public on 4 July, we need you to push for the policy changes that will help R&D thrive – including committing to long-term sustainable R&D investment, leveraging regional strengths, unlocking education and skills, and driving business investment.
You can read more about this engagement campaign here. Despite not seeking a response from candidates, we received 130+ replies including from new supporters: “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.”.
Even though the election was sprung upon us, CaSE was ready – plans already in place – to respond to the opportunities brought about by a potential change in government. Creating personalised packs for parliamentary candidates gave us a unique way to make the case for local R&D. It was a fascinating project to work on and it meant we had a real head-start in post-election engagement.
Lynne Milford
Campaigns and Public Affairs Manager
MPs To Watch
Following the election result, CaSE worked rapidly to compile our much-used list of MPs with a background or interest in STEMM or R&D. This list is not a comprehensive survey of parliamentarians, nor a judgment on MP’s worth, but a guide for the sector to use to identify potential advocates and allies within Westminster.
The CaSE team researched and compiled a list of over 170 MPs within days of the result. You can explore the full list here, including breakdowns of MPs with a STEMM or R&D Higher Education qualification, MPs with a prior career in STEMM or R&D, and MPs with a prior academic or university career in STEMM or R&D.
Letters to Politicians
As part of our advocacy in the run up to the 2024 General Election, we wrote to the leaders of 13 political parties. In these letters we expressed the value of UK R&D to the prosperity of the country and what it means to the public. We also asked for responses detailing how their parties will deliver for R&D.
Political Party Manifesto Analysis
We analysed the manifestos of the four largest parties (Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party) as well as three other parties (The Green Party, Plaid Cymru and Reform UK).
The combination of our policy and public opinion work enabled us to do some really exciting new things in the run up to and immediately after the Election, including engaging Parliamentary Candidates with insights about their constituency and our important advocacy work.
Dr Daniel Rathbone
Deputy Executive Director
R&D Sector Joint Statement
At CaSE we want R&D to be a community that continuously seeks new ways to collaborate towards a shared strategic vision. One of the ways we strive to do this is by convening and delivering a shared voice for the science and engineering and wider R&D sector at key moments.
In March this year, we led in the production and publication of a cross sector call for the UK to be a leading country in the G7 on R&D investment. This statement, authored by 11 prominent organisations and signed by 26 of our members and partners in the sector, set out a clear united position on the value and importance of UK R&D.
Our hope was that this statement would provide a foundation from which we could build our individual policy platforms in the general election year, and demonstrate to policy makers that although we have our own areas of focus, we all agree on a united fundamental position.
This project is a clear demonstration of CaSE’s convening power, and provided a prime opportunity to integrate some of our public opinion insights into a policy position.