Insights
Stonehaven’s latest MRP reveals that Labour are set for a 1997-style landslide majority at the next UK general.
The environmental challenge of the food system is one of the trickiest and most politically contentious challenges of our time. One potential solution lies in cultured meat grown in laboratories. As the UK moves towards permitting these meats and adapting regulation, sustainability expert Bella Nourse and policy expert Tobias Burke have taken a look at the current state of play and barriers to cultured meat with a special focus on the attitudes of consumers, backed by Stonehaven’s own survey data.
Cultured meat (also called lab-grown, cultivated or cell-based) provokes a beefy and polarised response across the globe. This divisiveness is reflected in the support (or lack of support) cultured meat is receiving from Governments worldwide. While some countries are giving regulatory approval, others have moved to ban these products to “safeguard their nation’s heritage”.
In this age of (rightful) sustainability scrutiny of all corporate sectors, including consultancy, it occasionally crosses my mind that our firm, which married Robertsbridge with Stonehaven, might one day find itself on the end of one of those ‘gotcha’ moments in which advisory firms are challenged, in public, on the client work they do. Despite our long history of fruitful collaboration with campaigners across countless NGOs, no one is immune from challenge, and nor should they be. The most obvious (and necessary) of these ‘stings’ has been the now frequent calling out of PR and advertising firms for blatant greenwashing. I have often participated in this sport with unbridled glee – both on my own social media channels and even in a more concerted effort as an occasional contributor to various publications. Slamming greenwash (when it really is that) is legitimate, it is necessary, and it is fun. One could even make a career of it, and some people are. No one is a bigger enemy of PR front groups, eco marketing guff, of information designed to mislead, confuse or question scientific consensus than me. In my brief few years at a very large communications agency, I also performed the role of professional irritant from inside the firm, as many of my former colleagues will testify.
Our expert research team has taken a look back at the extreme weather events of this summer and explored whether they may affect people’s future travel preferences. Senior Consultant Angus Boobbyer takes a deep dive into the results, suggesting businesses may need to reassess their long term strategies in light of what is to come.
Stonehaven’s latest MRP model provides our first detailed forecast of how tactical voting will shape the next election.
Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s vision for privatisation was to ensure: “the state’s power is reduced, and the power of the people enhanced”. While some market-based reforms from her premiership have given customers greater flexibility, control, and choice, it is hard to see how privatisation of retail energy has resulted in anything other than a broken and illusory market.
Our expert research team has taken a look at the key issues on food and obesity policy and what UK people really think about them. Managing Consultant, and research specialist, Tom Welborn explains the results and why politicians shouldn't fear interventionism on food and obesity policy.
This month, children returning to school across London will universally receive a free school meal for the first time. The initiative comes off the back of Marcus Rashford’s campaign for free school meals during COVID. Both policy and campaign are aimed, primarily, at reducing the financial burden on struggling parents and ensuring that the least well-off children have at least one hot meal per day.
The extension to universal school meals in London will go some way to removing the stigma attached to receiving them and create a healthier relationship between school aged students and food. This latter point has the potential to make a lasting impact on public health and government finances. This kind of interventionist policy has proven politically contentious, but our polling shows that savvy politicians would do well to support this and other school level public health interventions.
Our Director of Policy and self confessed AI nerd has taken a look at the possibilities and pitfalls possible with greater use of the evolving technology in the political sphere.
Britain is on the brink of an engineering skills crisis that threatens to delay major infrastructure projects unless it addresses how the sector is seen.
Stonehaven’s Director of Policy, Adam Bell, spoke to the BBC in response to the Government’s announcement today on the insights to unlock consensus for the construction of more pylons to make energy cheaper for consumers. If you missed the interview, you can read his blog here.
When you understand that mandating individual change is driving opposition to ULEZ, you can begin to understand how to make the case for change.
The following opinion piece was first published via CapX. Data tables from our research are available for download at the bottom of this page.
The Conservatives are underpriced, and a Labour victory at the next election is not set in stone, despite what many had seen in recent years and an insurmountable lead in the polls. According to Stonehaven's latest polling and analysis, the Government has turned a corner on two years of decline, but the pathway to victory remains narrow. A gloomy economic outlook offers little room for manoeuvre and most voters are unconvinced that the Budget will make a positive difference.
The last couple of years have seen a sea change in public attitudes towards new nuclear across the UK. Rising energy bills and Putin’s war in Ukraine have put a laser-like focus on the UK’s energy security and revealed more starkly than ever the importance of investing in British energy infrastructure such as new nuclear. The UK Government has responded, committing to up to 24GW of new nuclear by 2050 in its recent Energy Security Strategy.
In our latest insights feature, our new Senior Advisor, Carwyn Jones, talks about how UK businesses can build stronger bridges with the current Labour Party.
UK energy prices have increased by about 50% over the past six months and further sharp increases are expected over the next year. This will squeeze domestic budgets, especially for those households with less than the average disposable income of £31,000 a year, for whom energy already makes up 7% of expenditures.
The Electricity System Operator National Grid has recently proposed a radical change to the way the UK’s power market sets prices. This would move the UK from a single national price for power to potentially hundreds of hyper local prices.
Plant-based foods are an increasingly popular alternative to meat and dairy products. In the second report of Stonehaven and Robertsbridge's Sustainability and Political Economy series, we explore the changing place of meat in the diets of people around the world, as well as the policy implications and business opportunities that come with change as sustainability pressures mount.
Paul Madden CMG, our Senior Advisor, shares the six challenges business face when navigating the growing trend of deglobalisation and the opportunities it offers.
It has been almost 2 years since the aviation industry was grounded. The path back will be shaped by customer concerns over open borders, appetite to return to mass travel, and growing concern over the climate impacts of aviation.