CaSE’s Guide for Engaging Politicians

Advocates must convey the public’s interest in R&D to secure long-term political support.

This guidance has been informed by CaSE’s nationally-representative polling of more than 20,000 UK adults and 14 focus groups. Our advice aims to help advocates convey the nature of public support for R&D, using key statistics from our research, to political decision makers at national, regional or local level.

Visit the Public Attitudes to R&D pages for the data behind our advice.

Read the Guide

Download the Guide for Engaging Politicians

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When engaging with politicians, we recommend that advocates:

Demonstrate to political decision-makers that R&D can help achieve their policy priorities

Use key statistics that show that target voters are supportive of R&D and investment

Frame R&D in the language each party uses, without undermining R&D's non-partisan status

Five Facts that politicians need to hear

The public think that…

R&D investment is important The majority (70%) think it is important for the Government to invest in R&D

R&D should be a priority for politicians of all parties Most people – regardless of who they plan to vote for – want to see politicians pay more attention to science and innovation and prioritise funding research

R&D can bring regional benefits More than half say they want their region to host a lot of R&D, citing local jobs and inwards investment

R&D is an asset to communities More than two-thirds would support an R&D lab being built in their local area or high street, citing well-paid jobs and benefits to the local economy

R&D is relevant to public concerns Many people in the UK feel R&D is essential to tackling climate change, the quality of the NHS and the cost of living

Specific references for each statistic are provided, but for a broad reference, please use: CaSE Public Opinion polling 2022-23.

Strengthening public support for the future

CaSE’s research has shown that the public’s attitudes towards R&D are not fixed. We believe that the opportunity to think about R&D can help broaden support.

At the end of our July 2022 survey, having seen a series of arguments in favour of R&D investment and spent 20 minutes thinking about the topic, respondents’ opinions shifted. Some 58% of those who had initially agreed with the statement “R&D should not be funded by taxpayers” now thought the Government should either increase or maintain the amount of public money invested on R&D.

If we can broaden and deepen public support for R&D in the future, we have an opportunity to radically transform our advocacy, making the sector feel more human and more local. Crucially, we will be able to work with the public as partners in making our case to politicians. To achieve this, we need to nurture public appeal, demonstrate the relevance of R&D to changing political priorities, and adopt a clear set of language for describing what our sector does.

The Discovery Decade programme marks a starting point for this work, and we hope to continue driving this change across the sector in the years ahead.

Our Guide for Engaging the Public aims to help advocates broaden and deepen support for R&D

Read the Guide