Demos is a champion of people, ideas, and democracy. We bring people together. We bridge divides. We listen and we understand. We are practical about the problems we face, but endlessly optimistic and ambitious about our capacity, together, to overcome them.
At a crossroads in Britain’s history, we need ideas for renewal, reconnection and the restoration of hope. Challenges from populism to climate change remain unsolved, and a technological revolution dawns, but the centre of politics has been intellectually paralysed. Demos will change that. We can counter the impossible promises of the political extremes, and challenge despair – by bringing to life an aspirational narrative about the future of Britain that is rooted in the hopes and ambitions of people from across our country.
Three things make Demos unique:
- We listen to people, from all walks of life. We use rigorous research methods, including machine learning and big data, to understand social trends as well as people’s lives and experiences. We get people together to discuss problems and develop solutions, whether that’s in focus groups, citizens juries, or online communities.
- We’re authentically cross-party. We’re passionate about ideas and innovation and we believe working across party lines is the way to get things done. And we know you don’t have to be in government to make change: so we’ll also work with social and community leaders, businesses and campaigners to renew Britain.
- We innovate and look forward. We believe in the power of change to improve lives and we live by that philosophy. We experiment with new ways of doing research and propose bold policy solutions. We’re looking ahead to the challenges and opportunities of the next decade. We don’t see problems, we see the opportunity to come up with new solutions.
Demos was founded in 1993 and is led by Polly Curtis.
