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UK Democracy Bulletin

A picture of the Suffragette statue in Parliament square surrounded by fake prison bars
Greenpeace install prison bars around major protest icons (Photo credit: Greenpeace)

Issue #75 — October 2025

Monthly news, jobs, grants and gossip from across the democracy sector, brought to you by James Moulding and Max Roche of the UK Democracy Network. Read by 450+ democracy organisations. We read everyone’s newsletters & research so you don’t have to. If you want us to cover yours, let us know: hello@democracynetwork.org.uk

How you can get involved right now! Do these things 👇

  1. Join the Democracy Network as a member
  2. Introduce yourself on the Democracy Network WhatsApp Community
  3. See the latest democracy jobs & add your own
  4. Check available democracy funding
  5. Explore the Democracy Map
  6. Share your news to the UK Democracy Forum Mailing List

Highlights

  • mySociety celebrate landmark 1.25 million FOI requests since 2008
  • Centre for Governance and Scrutiny hosting 21st century councillor in Andover next month
  • CTRLshift hosting convention on the future of UK democracy next month
  • Public Interest News Foundation launches Local News Fund in Newry
  • Far right violence attacks and anti-Muslim hatred on the rise
  • Defending Democracy Taskforce refuses all Freedom of Information requests
  • Facial recognition cameras government pushes for nationwide rollout
  • Migration Justice movement overstretched and struggling to cope says new report
  • Defend Our Juries 18 further anti-proscription protests planned
  • Newspeak House to celebrate 10th anniversary this December

#DemocracyJobs

Featured Job Listings across the Democracy Sector. View the full database of upcoming job listings here — have we missed any? Add them via this form.

Rolling deadlines

Featured upcoming roles

A man standards with arms raised next to a sculpture and some trees
Andy Jackson in Heeley, Sheffield (Photo credit: Will Garthwaite)

Democracy Sector 🗳️

Electoral Commission to launch pilot scheme on future of youth democratic education

The Electoral Commission is piloting a new scheme to support young people over the age of 16 to cast their vote. They will be rolling out a whole range of resources and initiatives to do this and are looking for educators, schools and colleges to get involved and bring the content to life. Sign up if you’d like to know more and get involved.

Democracy Fund publish new report on voter registration in Black communities

The report, a partnership between Local Champions CIC and the UK Democracy Fund, looks at the lower voter registration rates among Black communities in the UK and their key learnings from working with Carib Eats, Skate Cabal and The Agency (Battersea Arts Centre) for how to improve democratic engagement among the Black community in the UK.

We’re Right Here launches new campaign film

We’re Right Here’s new film makes the case that the solution to ‘Broken Britain’ can be found in every neighbourhood across the country — within the ‘big hearts and deep knowledge’ of community organisers, groups of neighbours, and grassroots movements. They’re calling for a deeper form of devolution, pushing control downwards and outwards to communities, creating new community rights and powers — and putting the decisions that shape neighbourhoods and futures in the hands of ordinary people. Watch the film and read the story behind it here.

Unlock Democracy working on new ‘defensive constitution project’

Tom Brake, Director of Unlock Democracy, reports they are working on a new ‘defensive constitution project’ with the 99% Organisation, focused on requesting that the government acts to strengthen democratic guardrails. Stay tuned for more on this soon.

Electoral Commission hiring first ever digital product owner role

In this groundbreaking new role as the Electoral Commission’s first ever digital product owner, the successful candidate will be able to develop their own team and pioneer new in-house delivery, running a product that serves millions of voters each year — they’ll also be in the Commission as the first 16 year olds get to vote, and think about automatic voter registration and its role in elections — this is a major new post. Apply now — deadline 2nd November.

Women2Win celebrate 20 years

Join Women2Win for their 20th anniversary celebrations at The May Fair Hotel in London on November 26th. Women2Win works to support and encourage Conservative women who want to take up public office across the UK.

The ‘Coachella of community power’ returns next year

New Local’s Stronger Things Festival — branded the ‘Coachella of community power’ — is set to return next year in June. Last year 1,200 people joined in-person and online to listen and participate in discussions about the future of local communities. This year they hope to trump that figure so keep your eye out for updates.

The Politics Project hiring for two new roles

The team at The Politics Project is growing — they’re looking for applicants for two new roles, a Head of Communications and Networks, and a Partnerships Manager. Both roles are for a fixed-term contract until March 2027 with the possibility of extension. They are London-based, with a minimum of two days per week in the office. The application deadline for both roles is Sunday 9th November 2025. For more information and to apply, see here.

OGP Scotland co-creating next Action Plan

Open Government Partnership Scotland are in the lead up to co-creating their next action plan, which will include public consultations on trust perception in Scotland — the plan itself will include a trust and transparency strategy, and key planks on anti-corruption and accountability, ethical use of tech and much more besides. Sign up to the OGP Scotland e-bulletin for up to date news.

Mapping the migration justice movement, new report

Natasha Adams has published a new report mapping the migration justice space in the UK, based on interviews and conversations with many across the UK migration justice movement. According to the report, the organisations and groups are over stretched, struggling to cope with keeping organisations and morale afloat while firefighting the onslaught of racist policies and literal death threats, Natasha writes. It needs more unrestricted funding, space for strategic reflection, greater connections and collaborations across the movement and beyond. The report is not public, but you can read a summary here.

Open Rights Group collecting signatures for inquiry into the ICO

Beginning next week, Open Rights Group (ORG) will start collecting signatures for an open letter which asks the DSIT select committee to open a formal inquiry about the Information Commissioners Office. ORG are pushing for a full blown inquiry into the ICO’s alleged poor performance on data protection oversight, which is key to protecting the integrity of election campaigners and others from online manipulation.

You can find an (almost final) draft of the letter here. The letter will be published later in November, add your organisation to the letter.

Trust the People running new online community building course

Grassroots community organisers Trust the People are running a new four part online course this November sharing democratic tools to help people organise and support their local communities. The course will run every Monday evening for four weeks looking at key concepts such as how to build community, how to support a group, how to develop community assemblies, and more.

Compass to host full day member event Charting Our Course this November

Compass’s upcoming event, Charting Our Course, will be a day of strategy discussion, debate and decision making for the Compass movement. The core theme of the day will be how progressives can organise a popular front against the rise of the far-right. Sign up to join the full day event on November 15th.

Poland hosts first youth citizens’ assembly on country’s digital future

The Field of Dialogue Foundation with support from People Powered’s Digital Democracy Accelerator recently launched the first national-level Youth Citizens’ Assembly in Poland’s history. The assembly brought together 32 randomly selected youth from across the country to discuss and debate the sorts of digital policies which the government should implement to ensure technology operates in the public interest.

Involve to host training sessions on how to facilitate public engagement

Keen to understand how you can facilitate better public engagement through meaningful discussions in your organisation or community? Involve is hosting two training sessions in November on the 6th and then again on the 13th. There is a price tag on this one, but there are discount options for third sector organisations.

Civic University Network host CiviCon25 in Sheffield

This year’s Civic University Network conference was the last they’ll hold in Sheffield Hallam before their move to NCCPE in Bristol for next year’s conference. Civic University Network is part of the UK’s National Civic Impact Accelerator (NCIA) and works to help UK universities deepen their civic impact.

Rebekah McCabe publishes new blog, Assembling Wisdom

Rebekah McCabe is the Head of Northern Ireland at Involve. Rebekah’s brand new blog Assembling Wisdom is a field notebook from the frontlines of participatory democracy, collating their reflections from citizens’ assemblies and community conversations, training rooms and research projects — and from moments when people surprised each other — and themselves — with generosity or clarity. Sign up for Rebekah’s new blog here.

Compassion in Politics hacked by criminals asking for crypto donations

Supporters of Compassion in Politics (CiP) recently received what they thought to be a distressed email from the organisation which claimed their Stripe payments system had been blocked due to their organisation’s actions highlighting the genocide in Gaza. The email then asked supporters to continue their support via a crypto link. Compassion in Politics quickly became aware of the situation and is taking action to boost their security.

Concerned about your organisation’s digital security? Tech coop Common Knowledge is running digital security training for civil society organsiations — find out more.

Staying safe from growing racism on UK streets — new guidance published

Hackney Anti Raids has published advice on how to stay safe on UK streets, especially for migrants who are facing an increased threat of racist attacks. The advice includes what to do if you or those you work with are being filmed and what to do if you are being harassed. Please share with those that would find the resource useful.

New vox pops showcase public attitudes to UK politics and citizens assemblies

Alisdair Binnie-Lubbock and the team at 858 Project has been out and about on the streets asking people what they think of politics and what they would change if they received a Golden Ticket to join a permanent and powerful citizens’ assembly. Check out and share their new video. They are also crowdfunding for their campaign to scrap the House of Lords and replace it with a citizens assembly.

Devolved & Local Democracy 👥

Record by-election turnout in Caerphilly could be a sign of things to come, says More in Common

Last weeks’ dramatic by-election in Caerphilly, which saw Plaid Cymru narrowly defeat Reform UK, with support for both Labour and the Tories plummeting, was also notable for local voter turnout. The by-election had the highest turnout the Senedd constituency has ever had, and higher than the national turnout at any Senedd Election. More in Common predict this could be a sign of things to come as tactical voting campaigns and major party campaigns mobilise voters en masse away from Reform UK.

Institute for Welsh Affairs asks, how can we make the most of a changing Parliament?

With six months to go until Wales goes to the ballot box to elect a reformed Senedd, the Institute of Welsh Affairs, Electoral Reform Society Cymru, Public Affairs Cymru and the Wales Governance Centre are hosting a one-day event bringing together expert voices and trusted insight to help organisations navigate and prepare for Wales’ changing democratic landscape. Find out more now.

Common Weal hosting REVIVE National Conference for Real Land Reform

As part of the REVIVE coalition, including Friends of the Earth Scotland, The League Against Cruel Sports, OneKind and Raptor Persecution UK — Common Weal are hosting a national conference they’re describing as a landmark event in Scotland’s land reform journey on 8th November. This work builds on last year’s The Big Land Question work, which found just 421 people own half of Scotland’s private land.

Centre for Governance and Scrutiny host all day event on 21st Century Councillors

Test Valley Borough Council — in partnership with LGC and Birmingham University’s INLOGOV — are hosting a free event, 21st Century Councillors, in Andover on 4 November. The day is designed to give councillors and officers the opportunity to discuss how elected members can adapt, lead and thrive in a rapidly changing landscape that includes local government reorganisation. Find out more.

Four in five Brits want greater say over local issues, polling finds

New polling, on behalf of Power To Change, finds that 82% of Britons think it’s important for the government to give local people more control over what happens where they live. When it comes to delivering local change, the most trusted actors are community organisations (36%) followed by the council (19%), whilst just 9% trust central government. And at a national level, just 6% think the government respects their opinion when making decisions that affect the country.

Starmer relaunches ‘Levelling Up’ scheme with new devolved funds and powers

The Prime Minister is set to announce that 330 deprived areas will receive tens of millions of pounds over a decade to be spent on renewal schemes. Unlike Levelling Up funds of the past, local authorities will be given more autonomy to decide how to spend the funds. Labour is hoping this renewal will bring a boost to deprived areas and help stave off the threat of Reform.

Demos and UCL Policy launch ‘Nation of Neighbours’ initiative

‘Nation of Neighbours’ is a year-long initiative funded by Lloyd’s Bank Foundation and organised by Demos and UCL Policy Lab, which aims to set out a fresh narrative for national renewal. The initiative will show how trusted community organisations hold the key to reconnecting citizens and driving national renewal. Read their first joint statement on this exciting project and its development.

Democratic Reform & Innovation 💡

Campaign groups launch ‘Democracy SOS’ calling on government for urgent change

A new report by Compass, Unlock Democracy and Citizen Network sets out an urgent 8 point plan of action to re-boot our democracy. The authors of the report also sent a letter to Keir Starmer urging him to act on their plan to get his premiership back on track and ensure UK democracy thrives.

New YouGov MRP poll shows chaotic outcome at next general election

A new MRP poll published at the end of September puts Reform UK within a whisker of an overall parliamentary majority, winning 48% of available seats. However their overall share of the vote is still just over a quarter of the electorate (27%). Meanwhile the Greens are expected to get 11% of the vote and win just 1% of available seats. The graphs below from Electoral Reform Society show these outcomes in more detail.

CTRLshift to host convention on the future of UK democracy

On December 2nd in Sheffield, CTRLshift is teaming up with Citizen Network and Our House to hold a convention on the future of democracy in the UK. The event is supported by the National Lottery Community Fund through the Transition Together project. Find out more and book your ticket.

Labour For a New Democracy hold ‘biggest and best attended’ rally at Labour conference

Labour For a New Democracy, the campaign group pushing for the adoption of proportional representation within the Labour Party, report that they staged their ‘biggest and best attended’ rally for PR ever held at the Labour party conference. MPs, trade unionists, activists and metro mayors were all on the speaker panel, and if you weren’t there in person, you can watch the whole event back online.

Green Party accused of limiting avenues for member participation

At their recent conference in Bournemouth, The Green Party changed their constitution to allow the leadership to directly issue proposals for members to vote on. Writing in Bright Green, Douglas Rouxel, says the change represents a movement away from their democratic and participatory roots which allows members to shape rather than simply vote on proposals.

New report, The Decline of the Constituent-MP relationship — and how to fix it

A new report from Demos, A Two-Way Street: The decline of the MP-constituent relationship and how to fix it, looks at how MPs’ relationships with their constituents have worsened in recent years, suggesting ways to rebuild it. They propose a new framework to guide interactions between citizens and their representatives, one grounded in principles of ‘inclusivity, participation, reciprocity, accountability, and pragmatism’.

Safe Landing host second deliberative event for a vision of sustainable future aviation

Safe Landing is an organisation dedicated to developing a positive, worker-led vision of the future for sustainable aviation, where everyone can experience the beauty of flying, without harming people or planet. Their latest deliberative workshop for aviation workers saw workers come together for a ‘Visioning Assembly’. They’re still writing up their final report but you can see a short blog & video on it here.

September council by-elections underscore issues with First-Past-The-Post, campaigners say

On the 11th of September, six local council by-elections took place across England and Wales. Of those, five elections were won on less than a third of the vote, and in two cases the vote was less than 30%. In our current era of multi-party politics, this system is producing increasingly perverse outcomes, says the Electoral Reform Society. They are campaigning for England and Wales to follow Scotland and Northern Ireland in adopting the Single Transferable Vote, which creates more proportional and fair outcomes.

Centre for Constitutional Change on what we can (and can’t learn) from the Germans

For a long time, German federalism has been viewed internationally as a model of stability. But recent years have seen a more critical discourse emerge, reflecting concerns about the governance, coordination, and resilience of the ‘German model’. Why the Germans Do It Better has given way to Broken Republik. The Centre for Constitutional Change is hosting an event on 11th November, exploring whether German federalism still offers useful lessons for Scotland and the UK — Register now.

Democratising the Media 📰

Less than half of viewers think the BBC is independent of the government, BBC says

The BBC recently published the results of a mammoth survey of 872,000 audience members. They asked respondents how important certain broadcasting values were, and then asked how effectively they were being met. The biggest gap came on the question of independence from the government of the day with 91% thinking it is important, but just 43% saying they were doing so effectively. The second biggest gap was on whether the BBC reflects people across the UK — 76% said it was important and 51% said they were effectively doing this.

Impress launch ‘Ethical Media and Journalism’ course

Impress, the independent press regulator in the UK, has launched a new course in collaboration with the University of Huddersfield to train journalists to produce content that is accurate and produced with integrity. Chief Executive of Impress, Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, said this is a crucial moment for media organisations to enact change given the ‘rising tide of inaccuracies and the poor practises of some plaguing our media and information space’.

Nottingham Post takes legal action over Reform UK ban

A local newspaper, the Nottingham Post, and its online arm, Nottinghamshire Live, have taken legal action against the local Reform run council after the council leader, Mick Barton, refused to speak to its journalists. Barton initially took the unprecedented move to stop speaking to or sending press releases to the Nottingham Post saying the party would not ‘allow misinformation to shape the narrative of our governance’.

Public Interest News Foundation’s Local News Fund backs Newry local journalism

Ready for a heart warming good news story? Over the past couple of years, Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) has been working with groups and communities across Newry to explore the role that local media plays in the community, and what role a first-of-its-kind Local News Fund can play. Thanks to the generosity of Paul Hamlyn Foundation, PINF were able to fund two pioneering projects to give local journalism a boost in Newry — check out the new projects here.

An app interface
New Bristol Cable app (Photo credit: Bristol Cable)

Bristol Cable launches world-first new app

Produced by Freddie and Saskia at the Newsmast Foundation, the Bristol Cable’s new app combines both the Cable’s trusted professional journalism, and a new social network for community connection made up of Bristol Cable members, all in one app. Former PINF Network Manager, now Bristol Cable Operations Lead Jaldeep Katwala unpacks how this changes the game for the Bristol based media co-op.

Government to ensure prominence of public service media content on social media

The Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, has said the government will legislate to ensure public service media content is given more prominence on YouTube and other video sharing platforms. The Society of Editors welcomed the news stressing the vital role public service media outlets play in combating fake news, and the importance of this new government initiative to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector amid a changing media landscape.

Public Interest News Foundation demand big tech pays its share to local news providers

The Public Interest News Foundation is launching a new campaign to ensure local news providers are compensated by big tech companies like Google News who routinely rely on locally reported news stories on their platforms. Research commissioned by PINF suggests the amount of revenue generated by Google alone from UK news outlets could be as high as £2.2bn. Their new campaign hopes to address this unfair practice to ensure more money is pumped into local journalism.

Integrity & Transparency 📣

Pro-palestine protesters awaiting trial in prison to go on hunger strike

Prisoners for Palestine have said an undisclosed number of inmates will begin an open-ended hunger strike on 2nd November if their demands are not met. A letter detailing their demands, which include immediate bail, lifting the ban on Palestine Action and an end to censorship of their communications, was handed in at the Home Office on Monday by two previously imprisoned activists, Francesca Nadin and Audrey Corno. More than 18 further demonstrations against the proscription of Palestine Action are planned for next month, Defend Our Juries say, as more than 2,100 people have been arrested pending charges for terrorism.

The Citizens to take UK government to court over inaction on Russian election interference

Nathan Gill — a former UKIP and Reform UK politician — was recently charged with eight counts of bribery to promote pro-Russian narratives inside the European Parliament. The Citizens have long been calling for an investigation into Russian interference only to be refused. In 2023 they took the UK government to court over their failure to investigate. With the recent revelations about Gill, they are now preparing for another legal challenge to secure a full scale inquiry into Russian interference in UK elections.

ID cards precursor to ‘pre-crime’ state, say campaign groups

Digital ID cards are back on the menu with the Labour government promising to roll them out by the end of parliament. The move has come under intense criticism from civil society groups who were instrumental in killing the original plan fifteen years ago. Open Rights Group said the ID cards would be a ‘bureaucratic nightmare’ and the centralised database would feed AI systems that could create an ‘authoritarian pre-crime state’. Big Brother Watch has launched a petition calling for the scheme to be scrapped, so far amassing just under 165,000 signatures. Another UK Parliament petition has nearly 3,000,000 signatures.

King Charles defenestrates brother as support for the royal family polls at all time low

The former Prince Andrew, now Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, has been stripped of his royal titles and honours in a significant move by the monarch to defend the public image of the royal family, amidst the roiling scandal around the former Prince. Mountbatten Windsor, long implicated in the paedophilia scandal around Jeffrey Epstein, was recently the focus of sex trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre’s new book.

Savanta polling this month shows support for the monarchy at its lowest level since records began, at just 46%, down from 51% last year — though recent surveys show 91% of Britons have a negative opinion of the disgraced former Prince.

Mone £122m repayment over PPE is ‘tip of the iceberg’, say corruption campaigners

PPE Medpro, the organisation tied to Baroness Mone which supplied faulty PPE during the covid pandemic, has been ordered to repay £122m to the government. The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition welcomed the news but said this was just the tip of the iceberg and the government must continue the fight to reclaim taxpayer money lost during the pandemic.

Government under fire for meeting fossil fuel lobbyists 500 times in first year, say Fossil Free Parliament

Fossil Free Parliament has published research which shows the government met fossil fuel lobbyists over 500 times in their first year — a 48% rise on the number of meetings attended under the Tories. The campaign group said these lobbyists had essentially been given ‘a backstage pass to the government’. Government spokespeople said the findings were misleading as many of these companies have clean energy investments which were often the basis of the discussions. Earlier this year openDemocracy published cutting edge research from InfluenceMap how weak UK lobbying laws allow fossil fuel giants to influence UK climate policy in secret, without scrutiny.

Growing far right violence over flags, reports Byline Times

East Anglia Byline Times report assaults and harassment on members of the public acting to remove ‘divisive flag displays’ in Diss and Norwich, with one man hospitalised and a group of women surrounded and chased. Police took no or limited action in either case, and in Diss accused the women of ‘causing trouble’. While supporters of the so-called Operation Raise the Colours campaign claim the flags show ‘patriotism and unity’, critics see them as symbols of division.

British Muslim communities have faced attacks and vandalism of mosques and community spaces, and increasing hatred towards Muslims — as Akeela Ahmed, CEO of the British Muslim Trust — attests. The displays have increasingly been linked with anti-immigrant rhetoric and far-right online mobilisation, with small groups quickly summoned to confront anyone who tries to remove the banners, Byline report.

Greenpeace install prison bars around monuments of civil rights icons

Yesterday a new Greenpeace stunt saw the team locking up champions of protest — Gandhi, Mandela and Fawcett — to protest at the increasing restrictions of the right to protest in the UK, through the proscription of Palestine Action as a terror group, new laws restricting cumulative and other wide-ranging powers to clamp down on public protest, they argue.

New Ethics and Integrity Commission is established and Acoba watchdog abolished

The much criticised watchdog Acoba (Advisory Committee on Business Appointments) has been scrapped as the government reforms the ethics structure around parliament. A new organisation — the Ethics and Integrity Commission — has also been set up as part of the government’s drive to put accountability at the heart of their parliamentary agenda.

Google cuts all funding to fact checking website Full Fact

Google has been a major funder of Full Fact, donating over £1million last year to the fact checking organisation. Now they have cut all financial ties to the organisation — a move which echoes Meta’s decision earlier this year to end support for third party fact checkers. Full Fact believes these decisions are motivated by a desire to appease the Trump administration.

Tony Blair Institute has received £257 million from CEO of Oracle, investigation finds

A new investigation by the investigative news Substack ‘Democracy For Sale’, finds that The Tony Blair Institute has received £257 million since 2021 from Larry Ellison — the founder of software company, Oracle. Some staff have since left the think tank complaining that the cash injection had led to a form of ‘AI boosterism’ which had turned it into a lobbying vehicle for Ellison.

Green Party celebrates surging membership numbers, votes to proscribe IDF as terrorist org

The Green Party of England & Wales how has more than 150,000 members, outstripping all but Labour and Reform. The party is also currently roughly tied with the Labour Party in national polling. Earlier this month, Green Party members voted at their conference for the Israeli Defence Forces to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. The motion also called for the British government to ‘formally apologise to the people of Palestine for the Balfour Declaration’ and for the establishment of a ‘UN peacekeeping force in the West Bank & Gaza to ensure the safety of Palestinian residents’.

Platforms like X ‘failing catastrophically’ to limit reach of extremist posts, new research shows
Two new studies showcase the ongoing failure of X to limit the reach of harmful content on its platform. Firstly, the Centre for Countering Digital Hate partnered with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs to analyse 679,000 antisemitic posts on X, finding that these hateful posts were viewed a total of 193m times.

Another study by CCDH found that posts celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk amassed 52 million views online whilst posts calling for retaliatory violence were viewed 43 million times. The CEO of CCDH, Imran Ahmed, said platforms like X ‘are failing catastrophically to limit the reach of posts that celebrate murder and mayhem.’

Mick Napier of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign released after crowds block his arrest, May 2025 Photo credit: Scottish Community and Activist Legal Project

Network for Police Monitoring publish new report into policing of Scottish pro-Palestine demos

The Scottish Community and Activist Legal Project (SCALP) and the Network for Police Monitoring (NetPol) have launched a new report analysing Police Scotland’s response to pro-Palestine demonstrations. The report paints a bleak picture of how fundamental rights of free speech, assembly and protest are being eroded in Scotland, the authors argue, from systematic police violence, police intimidation of organisers and disproportionate use of police resources — Read the report now.

Facial recognition tech deployed to Manchester for first time

Greater Manchester Police announced their first use of the technology last week. Big Brother Watch (BBW) warned of ‘unprecedented expansion’ of facial recognition as ‘worrying for democracy’ back in August, ahead of the country-wide rollout. Rebecca Vincent, Interim Director of BBW, said ‘This unprecedented escalation in the use of facial recognition technology across the UK is alarming, and represents a significant expansion of the surveillance state. Live facial recognition turns every passerby into a walking barcode and treats us all as a nation of suspects.’

Government’s new ‘Democracy Taskforce’ accused of evading democratic scrutiny, reports Bylines

A Freedom of Information request from the Byline Times on the operations of the government’s ‘Defending Democracy Taskforce’ has been sent back with almost all information requests refused. The government body also has little to no information online — no website, social media, meeting minutes, agendas etc — leading to accusations that the taskforce itself is behaving fundamentally undemocratically.

Image of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein projected onto Palace of Windsor
Led By Donkeys team arrested for projecting image onto Windsor Palace (Photo credit: Led By Donkeys)

Arrests after Trump-Epstein Windsor projection are ‘Orweilian’, says Led By Donkeys

Four arrests were made after the campaign stunt group Led By Donkeys projected an image of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle during the President’s state visit. Led By Donkeys said it was the first time anyone in the group had been arrested for a projection, calling the police response ‘ridiculous’ and ‘Orwellian’.

Journal of Democracy explores democratic backsliding

In their latest issue, the Journal of Democracy has selected several key articles exploring the complexities of democratic backsliding and undoing the damage of authoritarian episodes. These include an essay on how pro-democracy opposition parties often adopt the autocratic habits of the regime they replaced, the myth of democratic resilience and how democracies fail to reverse the damage after an authoritarian relapse, recognising democratic backsliding — and case studies from Malawi, Zambia and Gambia.

Image of website WhatDoTheyKnow
WhatDoTheyKnow (Photo credit: mySociety)

Pro-democracy tech 🤖

mySociety celebrate more than 1.25 million FOI requests on WhatDoTheyKnow

There are now a record 1,250,876 Freedom of Information requests to 47,172 authorities on WhatDoTheyKnow, since launching in 2008. Unfamiliar with the tool? Check it out now.

Demos joins call for safeguards around AI technology

Demos, together with over 200 prominent global figures, has joined calls for international redlines to be placed on unacceptable AI use by the end of 2026. Other signatories include many Nobel laureates, former heads of state, tech leaders, and digital policy organisations.

See the latest democracy tech launches, now on Civic Tech Field Guide

Matt Stempeck, Curator of the Civic Tech Field Guide, has announced CFTG’s latest new feature — a space to monitor all the latest civic technology as it is published and launched — check it out.

AI minister says the government wants to go ‘further and faster’ with AI

In an interview with Politico, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said that alongside healthcare the government intends to ‘put AI in the service of things like our national security’. Starmer previously declared that AI could save the government £45bn in savings and productivity benefits. As the Government moves to hand over these large quantities of public data to AI companies, the Ada Lovelace Institute recently cautioned that there is a long way to go to improve public trust in these companies. The Social Market Foundation has put out a paper on how and why we must take AI regulation seriously.

New democratic engagement tool Waves is launched in Camden

Waves, the new digital engagement tool which has been under development for the last 6 months, has been launched by Demos, New Local, Psi and multiple local authorities. This pilot will be the largest ever UK experiment with digital democracy and they are now looking for people in the Camden area to take part. If you’re a local resident or know one, get involved!

New guide for building public interest technology is published

The Open Knowledge Foundation has recently published a new field guide for anyone interested in creating public interest technology. The new publication — ‘The Tech We Want — Read This Before You Build’ — is intended to guide readers through the key questions to consider before embarking on a new project, such as thinking about who the tech is for and who will maintain it.

Newspeak House celebrates 10th anniversary this December

It has almost been a decade since Newspeak House launched as the London College of Political Technology. To mark the occasion, Ed Saperia, Dean of Newspeak, is hosting a fundraiser, conference and Christmas party, all in one — grab your ticket.

Connected by Data working with civil society orgs across AI

Connected by Data are busy — they’ve launched their Principles for Public Participation in the Procurement of Artificial Intelligence. They held their twelfth meeting of the Data and AI public engagement community of practice, focused on deliberation exercises and how to evaluate them (see the notes here). Connected by Data’s Data and AI Civil Society Network meets next week, Tuesday 4th November — find out more.

ChatGPT-5 produces more dangerous content than earlier editions, according to campaign group

The attempt by US parents to sue Open AI for the role Chat-GPT played in encouraging their son to take his life has raised questions about the potential dangers of unregulated AI platforms. The Center for Countering Digital Hate has been investigating whether their latest model ChatGPT-5 is actually safer than previous versions. The results suggest it’s not, as the platform continues to serve up dangerous content to users. The organisation is campaigning for the UK government to put the public’s safety first and properly regulate the emerging technology.

And now for something completely different …

Inclusivity in Action: Merging Sociocracy and Liberating Structures

Carl J Rogers argues that inclusive, trust-based teamwork is a competitive advantage in complex environments, and sets out how to pair Sociocracy 3.0 patterns with Liberating Structures’ micro-formats to scale participation. Practical steps include starting small with Liberating Structures, clarifying domains and decision rights, using intent-based leadership, and iterating via regular feedback loops.

Churn! Institute for Government launches new policy making boardgame

Last week marked the successful launch of Churn! The Policy Making Board Game, a groundbreaking collaboration between the University of Roehampton and Institute for Government. This innovative game transforms the complex process of policy-making into a dynamic, hands-on simulation that encourages critical thinking, collaboration, and strategic insight.

See you next time,

James, Max and the Democracy Network team