A selection of our recent appearances in the UK media.
Financial Times
28 June 2023
In truth, this looks like more of the same. Luke Tryl, director of the research group More in Common, argues: “The Tories are struggling on loss aversion because people don’t think they would lose very much if they fell.” But despite Labour’s poll lead, many contrast the lukewarm support for Starmer with the enthusiasm for Tony Blair in 1997. The shortfall is where the hope should be.
The Independent
27 June 2023
Just a third of voters believe the Government’s handling of the Covid pandemic was a success, new polling has revealed. Nearly half of people – 48 per cent – have branded the UK’s response a failure, while 19 per cent said they did not know.
The figures for the More in Common think-tank suggest people’s perceptions of the government response have been clouded over the past few years – coming as the Covid inquiry continues to raise concerns over the lack of planning for the pandemic, and in the aftermath of the Privileges Committee report into Boris Johnson and “Partygate“.
Civil Service World
26 June 2023
The British public are more likely to put their trust in civil servants than in ministers, research has found – despite recent suggestions that “the blob” is harming the country by undermining ministers’ objectives.
Two in five people polled by the think tank More in Common said civil servants are more trustworthy than ministers – while just one in 10 said the opposite.
Huff Post
25 June 2023
Opinion polling carried out by the More in Common think tank shows that British people believe staff in Whitehall are more hardworking, trustworthy and competent than their politician bosses.
Luke Tryl, More in Common’s UK director, told HuffPost UK: “Far from believing in the notion of an intransigent civil service blob blocking progress, the public are significantly more likely to say civil servants are more trustworthy, hardworking, competent and have the public’s interests at heart – and that’s something that even those who voted Conservative at the last election agree with.”
The Times
25 June 2023
Owning a home is often seen as a gateway to voting Conservative. It is true that more people have paid off their mortgage in Britain than are paying it, yet those most affected by interest rate rises represent a “smallish yet vital political group,” says Luke Tryl, UK director of the More in Common think tank. Interest rate pressures will be felt more severely in traditional Tory home county stomping grounds, where buyers have been borrowing big to afford their expensive homes.
Financial Times
25 June 2023
Op-ed by UK Director Luke Tryl: Is the UK finally getting over the great Brexit schism? Leavers are growing less attached to their vote in the referendum than Remainers — creating electoral problems for Conservatives