Decoding populism

New research on understanding and defeating the new far right

So, I thought I’d share some of the early research from my new project Decoding Populism on which I’m working together with the great Will Snell at the Fairness Foundation and Prof Bobby Duffy at the Policy Institute, King’s College.

This new programme will bring together research, talks, interviews and lectures, including some of the work from a new programme at St Antony’s College, Oxford on Good Policy in the Age of Populism, where Rt Hon John Glenn MP, the Conservative former Chief Secretary and I will be exploring how we solve difficult public policy problems in an age of polarisation.

First up, here’s Kelly Beaver, chief executive of IPSOS Mori on what actually happened in the great democratic of 2024. Over 2 billion people went to vote. But what happened? Did the populists win? And if so, why? You can watch my interview with Kelly here, and Kelly’s slides are here.

Second, here’s Peter Kellner’s brilliant talk to St Antony’s College, Oxford on why the populists are on the rise. In particular, Peter parses the different ways in which both moral and instrumental appeals underpin support for democracy, and so like Kelly, Peter underlines the important emerging theme of state failure as a factor in the populist’s rise. You can watch my interview with Peter here, and Peter’s Substack is here.

Third, you can watch an amazing evening at the Policy Institute, Kings where where we brought together an all-star group of thinkers: Prof Ben Ansell, Hamida Ali, Peter Hyman, and Claire Ainsley to discuss the US elections and in particular, the re-emergence of class as an absolutely critical explanation for Trump’s rise and the democrats defeat. A key takeaway: progressives have restore the power of working people to earn a good life, and we have to reinvent the state so it helps better in that core task.

If you’ve not read them, then I’d also recommend two short reports: PPI’s analysis to which Claire and Deborah Mattinson contributed so much and this new report from Third Way.

As ever, I’d welcome your thoughts - and much more on this to come!