Exploring the political landscape and public priority issues in Scotland and Wales

High turnover is expected in both the Senedd and Holyrood and the potential for hung parliaments will make coalition building important. The need to go “back to basics” was highlighted: some new MSs and MSPs may come from local council backgrounds, others may have little political experience, and many may have little insight into R&D. Both new and continuing parliamentarians will benefit from being (re)introduced to R&D, including defining the national landscape for R&D: what it is, who’s doing it, and the benefits it brings to society and the nations.

Participants consistently raised the increasing influence and predicted representation of Reform UK indicated in recent polling of voting intention. The party’s perceived stance towards R&D and the higher education (HE) sector was a concern for many participants, including the impact this may have on how other parties engage with these topics.

Devolution and independence will be central issues in the 2026 elections, and participants emphasised that the R&D sector needs to be conscious of how its own messaging will be read in these contexts. Phrasing and semantics will heavily influence how messages are received by different parties.

For example, Welsh stakeholders noted that case studies of what is working well in England might appeal to Reform UK MSs, but they will hold little to no sway for Plaid Cymru; instead, Scottish, Northern Irish or international comparisons might land better.

In Scotland, it was noted that independence is as high on the political agenda as it has been since the 2014 independence referendum, with the Scottish National Party (SNP) describing this election as a pathway to a second referendum. It will be important not to underestimate how much Scottish R&D will be seen through the prism of this constitutional debate.

Relatedly, participants discussed the fact that many of the doorstep issues for the public are reserved – where legislative power remains with the UK Parliament in Westminster – rather than devolved; this will need to be carefully considered in questionnaire design and subsequent messaging.

Participants felt that many MSs and MSPs do not, or will not, have a positive view of the HE sector and university-led R&D. This was a particularly strong concern for some of our Welsh stakeholders, who reported instances where research had been dismissed as “woke”, including research relating to particular demographic groups.

With the strain on university finances becoming more acute across the nations, Scottish stakeholders highlighted that universities in Scotland face challenges in advocating for sustainable financial reform due to their home student funding model. However, making the case to MSPs for changes to student fees or university finances is viewed as an unattractive message with zero appeal.

Declining health outcomes in Scotland and Wales are front of mind for the public and politicians alike. Demographic inequalities and unequal access to healthcare were raised as priority issues in both workshops, and improving the number of, and access to, clinical trials was a very visible R&D issue. Mental health in particular was raised as an important issue in Wales. It was noted that there is an opportunity for the sector to build on the strong political focus and generally well received R&D advocacy around healthcare.

Modernisation of the NHS was a strong theme, with discussions on how innovation, data, and AI could help transform the NHS. Participants emphasised that public trust will be vital for such a transformation to be effective, and understanding how the public feel about researchers – including in the private sector – accessing NHS patient datasets was raised as potentially valuable for advocates. The optics around this issue must also be considered, with the idea of more R&D in the NHS at risk of being dismissed due to stretched staff time and capacity. Workshop participants felt that the Welsh and Scottish public may not see R&D as being relevant to many NHS issues, such as waiting times.

While immigration is a reserved policy area rather than a devolved one, the issue is nonetheless part of the public discourse in Scotland and Wales. With both nations benefitting from an international R&D workforce, rhetoric around immigration and changing UK visa and immigration policy pose a huge risk to global R&D talent flow into Scotland and Wales. It was noted that, on this issue, public perception matters as much as the reality in Scotland and Wales.

Topics relating to the environment were raised as both a public priority and an area that R&D can bring strong benefits in both nations. For instance, through improvements to biodiversity, water pollution, and local economies, particularly for rural, coastal, and agricultural communities. Emphasising the role of interdisciplinary and integrated research will also be vital, with strong cross overs between environmental and health or AI research, for example.

The importance of sustainable agriculture was raised strongly in both workshops. There is a lot of R&D employment in this area and participants said that exploring public attitudes and awareness of R&D’s benefits to helping rural, farming, and regional economies would be valuable.

In our Scottish workshop, it was noted that Scotland has huge strengths in renewable energy but needs political will behind both the subject and R&D’s role in it. Participants felt that the ambition of a “just transition” – moving to net zero emissions in an equitable way that distributes the costs and benefits fairly – was less contentious in Scotland compared to the wider UK. Welsh stakeholders expressed concerns about political attitudes and priorities for the environment and renewable energy fields, with the possibility of this issue moving down the political agenda and leading to a large decrease in funding. Both nations felt it would be important to avoid the loaded term “net zero”.

ddressing the cost of living and poverty are national priorities in both Scotland and Wales. There is a strong political focus on jobs, skills, and improving opportunities for young people in both nations, including tackling internal “brain drain” of skilled workers from northern to southern regions within each nation. Communicating R&D’s role in creating new high skilled jobs and in improving local economies will be key. However, the rural-urban divide must be considered, with rural communities often feeling disconnected from R&D job opportunities and economic benefits.

Improving public services and infrastructure, particularly in remote areas, is both a public priority and an area that can become a political wedge issue in the nations. Lack of adequate infrastructure, transport and losing local amenities can also compound other issues by exacerbating inequity of access to, for instance, healthcare, education, or job opportunities. The potential of R&D and innovation to improve public services in Scotland and Wales was raised as a strong connection point, with Welsh stakeholders noting that connecting these improvements to Wales’s Future Generations agenda might serve as an effective hook.

In our Scottish workshop, topics that received greater prominence included Scotland’s strengths in both critical technologies and defence. Participants emphasised that there is not a lot of public recognition of Scotland’s national strength in critical technologies (such as photonics, quantum, semiconductors, connectivity and sensing), and the inward investment and job opportunities this brings.

On defence R&D, it was noted that Scotland has strong strengths in both aerospace and marine defence, but that the Scottish government is cautious to talk about this – even though the defence sector is a large source of jobs for Scotland. The public’s relationship with defence remains nuanced and would benefit from being explored. An example was given of the difference in public acceptance and appetite for Scottish ship building, compared to warship building.

Scotland’s strong political focus on manufacturing was also raised, with these strengths spanning pharmaceutical, aerospace and physics R&D. Participants also discussed persistent challenges around scaling-up and retaining start-ups, despite substantial interest and attention on this issue from the current Scottish government.

In Wales, the conversation included a focus on Welsh language and culture as important considerations – for instance, it is vital that all surveys and campaign outputs for Wales be provided in both English and Welsh.

As set out in the political context section, participants discussed a number challenges faced by the Welsh HE sector, with both university financial sustainability and home student funding model reform also relevant issues for Wales. Concern about low levels of political support for the HE sector was set against the backdrop that there is falling participation and increased public disconnect with universities in Wales.

Participants also noted a lack of awareness of Welsh HE’s role in attracting inward investment. The example was given of how a lot of the public R&D funding that Wales receives, such as quality-related research funding awarded by Medr[1] or research council grants from UKRI, can be seen as a purely public sector-driven activity, with HE’s role in securing these funds not well understood.

Stakeholders in Wales also highlighted a strong political focus on national skill shortages. This included recognition from Welsh political parties that improved retention is vital in capitalising on investment in children and young people’s education, ensuring that the next generation of students, and researchers, don’t leave Wales.

[1] Medr (the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research) is responsible for funding and regulating the tertiary education and research sector in Wales