The Week in Democracy April 16th, JRRT funding announcements, new festivals and election updates
James Moulding
Hello and welcome to the April 16th issue of The Week in Democracy,
This email is a weekly roundup of activities from across the democracy sector, produced by the UK Democracy Handbook, including a summary of updates, job listings (at the bottom!), news and even the odd bit of gossip from our Thursday meetups.
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This week’s edition covers a lot of ground, from JRRT funding announcements, new festivals, election updates and jobs galore. So, here’s what happened this week across the UK democracy sector:
Democracy AsksTitus Alexander is on the lookout to hire someone to help them turn the Democracy Matters site into a ‘Gateway to the Democracy Sector’. They are also looking for organisational partners on getting HE institutions to support learning for democracy.
Ben Worthy requests survey participants for their project Who Is Watching Parliament? Ben’s project looks at how new data sources and platforms like They Work For You have made it easier to monitor our elected representatives and what this means for our political culture.
Liz Crosbie, Director at RebootGB, needs web development volunteer assistance with their website, can you assist?
Josh Russell is looking for a list or database of parliamentarian social media pages, can you help?
ElectionsIn the wake of HRH Prince Philip’s death last week, election campaigning was suspended over the weekend, restarting again on Tuesday morning. Campaigning will be paused again for the Duke’s funeral on Saturday 17th April.
Last week in England saw local election campaigns really get started. The Lib Dems and Greens opted for a climate-focused approach to the launch of their local elections campaigns, emphasising a green recovery. Whereas Labour and the Tories continue to scrap over the so-called ‘red wall’. In Wales, attention has centred on the terms Plaid Cymru may demand for supporting a minority Labour administration. In Scotland, while the new Labour and the Tory leaders attempt to increase their personality ratings with the electorate, the SNP appear to have rebuffed the new Alba Party.
Voter registration deadline looms. The deadline to register to vote is Midnight, April 19th.
Democracy Club’s candidate data is up to date and richer than it’s ever been. With SOPN (Statement of Persons Nominated) Day in the rearview mirror and with the help of their amazing network of volunteers (check out the volunteer leaderboard), Democracy Club’s candidate data is ready to go and ready to power election efforts across the country. Peter Keeling summarised the 2021 English local election data here.
Rachael Farrington, Founder of Voting Counts, is on the lookout for collaborations that will expand the info available to voters on Voting Counts. They currently feature WhereDoIVote, Vote for Policies manifesto tracker, Meet Your Next MSP and MVM’s voting system explainers. Rachel reports that Voting Count’s Vote2021 landing page is getting really busy in the run up to the elections!
Over 3,000 candidates have now signed up to the Fair Play Pledge! Last week, Fair Vote’s Kyle Taylor launched the pledge alongside Jackie Weaver and in collaboration with 10 democracy orgs, you can watch the launch here. Organisations wanting to spread the word can request creative assets, template and copy here. Next week Kyle says they’re going to try and get Labour to sign the pledge too!
The election of the new House of Lords Speaker has ended. Voting took place between 13-15th April, with the result expected to be announced on Wednesday 21st April. The new Lord Speaker will take office on 1st May and sit on the Woolsack for the first on Tuesday 4th May.
Meet Your Next MSP now hosts over 80 hustings events across Scotland, reports James Baster. They also remark how interesting it is to see all the different forms of hustings that online-only allows, such as end event polling, using breakout rooms and audience voting on questions.
New research briefing: How the 2020 elections were postponed and how the pandemic has affected the 2021 elections. In their new paper, David Torrance and Neil Johnston of the House of Commons Library report on the impact of coronavirus on elections in the UK. Last week Neil also revisited the rules on who has the right to vote across the UK.
Hannah O’ Rourke, Director of Labour Together, has been working on Vote Early. Vote Early is a non-partisan website which reframes postal voting as early voting and helps people to register their postal vote. Hannah also wants to bump another project, one for the political educators out there, Teachers 4 Turnout, developed to boost student voter turnout.
On 28th April, Alex Bogdan, Associate Director at Ipsos MORI, will be discussing how the 2019 British Election Study was transitioned from a face-to-face to a push-to-web methodology. The random probability BES has traditionally been face-to-face, but with it’s work intersecting with the start of the COVID-19 outbreak a decision was taken to continue the survey via online methods. Find out more here.
Far right group linked to neo-Nazis applies to register as a political party. Patriotic Alternative is a white nationalist group set up in 2019 by Mark Collett, an extremist from Yorkshire who was once head of publicity for the BNP.
Democracy MetaSusan Rodaway, Operations Director at VocalEyes, is keen to talk about collaboration across the democracy sector. They’re keen to work on a project to bring democracy and a genuine voice to marginalised communities. Susan requests any interested parties get in touch! VocalEyes just secured an amazing £300,000 in funding, now they’re hiring to help grow the platform and build their presence, so keep an eye out for new roles.
Suzie Curran, Festival Director of the Big Tent Ideas Foundation, is developing a programme for their upcoming festival in Coventry. They’re hoping to partner with Coventry UK City of Culture in July, fingers crossed! Big Tent Ideas brings together thousands of people every year, convening long term recovery, regeneration and renewal partnerships of local civic, business and community leaders for people & places left behind. This year their festival will have reduced live capacity, as well as livestreaming to support covid safe connection.
Andy Haldane set to replace Matthew Taylor as head of the RSA. Andy is currently the Chief Economist at the Bank of England and Chair of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Council and brings with him a depth of experience, including work on the RSA’s Citizens’ Economics Council, as founder of Pro Bono Economics, a trustee of National Numeracy and as a Patron of the charities REACH and Speakers for Schools.
The Hansard Society is hiring! They’re looking for a Membership and Operations Manager, Communications and Project Coordinator and a Researcher on Delegated Legislation. Find out more and apply via the handbook’s new jobs database.
Liz Crosbie of Reboot GB is focusing on building relationships across the pro-EU community. They’re also working on an exciting collaboration with a range of other democracy orgs. Hopefully we’ll hear more about that soon!
Help shape the Bristol Citizen’s Agenda. The Bristol Cable are developing a Citizens’ Agenda of top issues across the city they want election candidates to take action on if elected. Live in Bristol? Know someone who does? Help shape the agenda here.
Michael Mulvey of Independent Constitutionalists UK is thinking about the practical steps to move forward the goals of the democracy movement in the UK. They’ve been talking about the need for a shared vocabulary around what we mean by a democratic reset.
Perry Walker of Talk Shop has been experimenting with using argument mapping to represent a debate in parliament. Their team condensed over 100 pages of Hansard into one very large page, it’s well worth a look. They’re now looking for organisations that might find it useful and would like to experiment with them.
Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2021 is taking place May 10-11th. We don’t often feature international updates, but Titus Alexander’s recent Democracy Matters newsletter raised this to our attention. Register here.
Onward publish new research on The State of our Social Fabric. The new research finds broad based and long term decline in the strength of local community across the UK. The work adds to recent analysis by Pro Bono Economics that found the presence of community assets might be a better predictor of life satisfaction in an area than GDP or average household income.
Funding DemocracyTom Steiberg and Gemma Bull are giving away free copies of their new book if you make nice memes. Authors behind the new book Modern Grantmaking are offering freshly minted free copies of their book for the best memes of the grantmaking sector. Their book is arriving next month.
Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust have just announced a new tranche of funding for dozens of democracy orgs. Grant awardees include:
The Citizens, awarded £30,000 to run and test a media hub pilot for expert media commentary on government cronyism.
Women’s Equality Network (WEN) Wales, awarded £29,750 to influence the programme for Government and selections and manifestoes ahead of the May 2022 local elections
Open Rights Group, awarded £14,929 for work on the Scottish elections in order to ensure fair campaigning practices and to boost a digital rights agenda in the next Scottish Parliament
Fair Vote UK, awarded £58,000 to lobby and make improvement to the Government’s Online Harms and Electoral Integrity Bills
Activate Collective & Equip Her coalition, awarded £94,489 to support a generation of female political candidates from minoritised communities
Sortition Foundation, awarded £7,500 to support collaborative development of a shared language to persuade the public of the importance of democratic reform
Citizens UK, awarded £6,620 for using community organising to drive voter registration.
Voting Counts, awarded £1,700 to promote their 2021 online voting hub
Unlock Democracy, awarded £7,500 to research government impact on independence and effectiveness of local authorities.
Fabian Society, awarded £7,440 to establish the position of key Labour stakeholders on Federalism.
National Youth Arts Wales, awarded £6,810 to boost youth engagement ahead of the May 2021 Senedd elections.
Colin Miller is particularly keen on understanding what others are doing in terms of prepping for the National Lottery funding proposals. They also highlight their efforts at the Movement for Neighbourhood Democracy, which includes monthly sessions on a range of topics from grassroots innovation to food & democracy!
Reforming DemocracyAccording to Lucy Fisher in the Telegraph (£), the Conservative Party’s independent probe into Islamophobia has been accused of ignoring sources who wanted to report damning evidence, sparking fears of a whitewash. The inquiry, commissioned by Boris Johnson in December 2019 to look into the party's treatment of anti-Muslim and other discrimination allegations, is set to report in May.
Next Wednesday Frances Scott, Founder & Director of 50:50 Parliament, invites everyone to a Question Time event, you can sign up here. The focus will be on how we can all support women in getting selected and elected. In other exciting news, 50:50 Parliament will be hiring an Events Organiser and a Diversity Coordinator very soon.
Willie Sullivan, Senior Director at ERS Scotland, argues only real local democracy can rebuild our local communities. We’ve seen the power and fluidity of local mutual support groups through the pandemic, now let’s take forward those lessons and develop a genuine local democracy, they write in Common Weal’s Source.
New research briefing on Voter ID. Elise Uberoi and Neil Johnston at the House of Commons Library have produced a comprehensive briefing on the 2018-2019 pilot schemes and the wider background to the proposed policy.
Hannah O’ Rourke and the team at The New Power Review have published their first newsletter. Covering the local elections and a range of new power projects, you can check it out and subscribe here.
Safeguarding DemocracyMetropolitan Police Federation calls on government to stop videos of officers being posted on social media. The right to film police officers in the course of their duty is understood as a basic mechanism of accountability for security services. The Met Police’s own guidelines make clear that “police have no power” to stop filming of incidents or police personnel. In light of recent news and the Police and Crime Bill proceeding through Parliament, civil liberties orgs should take note.
‘Dark money’ fears raised over anti-SNP Facebook adverts run by Unionists. A UK Government advisor and senior figure at the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) has funded adverts for a campaign group called Businesses for the Union, prompting concerns over so-called “dark money” political activity in Scotland’s election campaign. The Electoral Reform Society backs an “investigation into the important findings, and the lack of transparency in UK and Scottish political finance”.
Manifesto Club argue against new vaccine passports. The new scheme is the “nadir of permission slip officialdom”, they write, whereby participating in civic life is no longer a right.
Participatory DemocracyAlvin Carpio, Director at the Democracy and Culture Foundation, is looking into how much it costs to run a Citizens’ Assembly. If you think you can help, you can reply to this email or contact them directly here. Besides this, Alvin is interested in how democracy has been impacted by the pandemic, what new problems it has caused and what solutions may be needed to those new problems. Demsoc released a fascinating podcast a while back covering the pandemic’s implications for democracy, here.
This week, Joe Mac from Extinction Rebellion Global Support, is working on organising the G7 Worldwide Peoples Assembly. Running May 20-28th, the event is a collaboration with more than 40 countries participating.
Last week Trust the People held a ‘project week’ encompassing some 15 organisations and project groups. According the team at Be More Pirate, over 100 people turned up, including folks from Flatpack Democracy, Ella Baker School of Organising, Talk Shop, Transition Towns, DEG and more. Trust the People are running an Open Space event next week, 22nd April.
Devolved Democracy & the UnionThe Constitution Society publishes landmark report on the future of the Union. The report pulls no punches on the difficulties facing the integrity of the United Kingdom, remarking that the union is now facing serious risk. Co-authored by Professor Michael Kenny, Jack Sheldon and former Dept for Exiting the European Union Permanent Secretary, Sir Philip Rycroft, the work represents a major contribution to the debate on the future of the United Kingdom.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon claims UK Government will allow referendum poll. Though vehemently denied by the Prime Minister, senior Tories believe this position would be hard to sustain in the event of an SNP majority north of the border in May. The Constitution Unit released a great podcast last month going in depth on this question, worth a listen!
Johnson appoints former ethics chief to lead development of policy on the Union. ConservativeHome reports the Government are hiring Sue Gray as second permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office in charge of policy on the Union and constitution.
‘Grossly irresponsible’ to blame Brexit for Northern Ireland unrest, says former top advisor. As Northern Ireland reels from the shock of last week’s widespread rioting and violence, former top advisor on Northern Ireland Lord Caine, speaks out (£) amid a growing political blame game.
The writing was always on the wall, says Otto English at the Byline Times. By dismissing all the warnings about the threat to peace in Northern Ireland posed by Brexit, Otto writes, Boris Johnson has put lives in danger in the name of power and ideology.
Understanding Brexit as core to rioting in Northern Ireland is a metropolitan mindset, argues David Jamieson of Conter. This is the first time since the Good Friday Agreement the British punditry and political class have given serious thought to NI, argues David, where the situation has been deteriorating for decades.
Active Job Listings across the Democracy SectorIs there a job missing from this list? Add it here, or view the database.
Trustees, The Joffe Charitable Trust, Voluntary- Apply by 16th April
https://joffetrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/JCT-Trustee-Terms-of-Reference-Mar21.pdf
Director to the Board, Northern Ireland Open Government Network, Voluntary - Deadline N/A
https://www.volunteernow.co.uk/volunteering-opportunities/#/volunteering/5edf7e46dbfe000011898fd6
Non-Executive Directors, the3million, Voluntary - Apply by 6th June
https://www.charityjob.co.uk/volunteer-jobs/the3million/non-executive-director/733998?tsId=8
Board Member - Treasurer, New Economy Organisers Network, Voluntary - Deadline N/A
https://neweconomyorganisers.org/about/jobs/board-member-treasurer/
Board Member - New Economy Expertise, New Economy Organisers Network, Voluntary - Deadline N/A
https://neweconomyorganisers.org/about/jobs/board-member-new-economy-expertise/
Finance and Operations Director, People Powered - Global Hub for Participatory Democracy, $70-90k (or equivalent) - Applications reviewed on a rolling basis
https://apply.workable.com/peoplepowered/j/E3243C172D/
https://www.forumforthefuture.org/personal-assistant-pwd-kickstarter-scheme
Campaigns and Digital Officer, Reprieve, £37,128 – Apply by 25thApril
https://reprieve.org/uk/work-for-reprieve/
Campaigner Contractor (Scotland), Sortition Foundation, From £200/day - Apply ASAP
Partnerships Director, People Powered - Global Hub for Participatory Democracy, $70-90k (or equivalent)- Applications reviewed on a rolling basis
https://apply.workable.com/peoplepowered/j/A86786CAC0/
Communications Manager, People Powered - Global Hub for Participatory Democracy, $60-80k (or equivalent) - Applications reviewed on a rolling basis
https://apply.orkable.com/peoplepowered/j/8ABE3F275A/
Senior Communications Manager, Good Governance Institute, £33k - Apply by 16th April
https://www.good-governance.org.uk/senior-communications-officer/
COP26 Communications Officer, Wellbeing Economy Alliance, £30k pro rata - Applications open
https://wellbeingeconomy.org/recruiting-now-weall-cop26-communications-officer
Communications and Project Coordinator, Delegated Legislation Review, Hansard Society, £34k - Apply by 28th April
https://app.beapplied.com/apply/hioo34zjk4
Digital Officer, Centre for Countering Digital Hate, £35-40k - Apply by 15th April
https://www.counterhate.com/jobs
Communications Development Officer, Co-production Network for Wales, £30,000 - Apply by 18th April
Deliberative Democracy Lead, FutureGov, £65-75k – Apply by 18thApril
https://jobs.lever.co/wearefuturegov/292091f1-b954-4017-ae04-dd82836aebdb
Senior Social Change Consultant, Social Change Agency, £35k – Apply by 30thApril
https://thesocialchangeagency.org/job-opportunity-senior-social-change-consultant/
Principal Data Scientist, Nesta, £46-£57k - Deadline N/A
https://www.nesta.org.uk/jobs/principal-data-scientist/
Post-doctoral Research Associate at the Cambridge Centre for the Future of Democracy, University of Cambridge, £32,816-£40,322, Apply by 1st May
https://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/29091/
Researcher (Delegated Legislation), Hansard Society, £34k - Apply by 30th April
https://app.beapplied.com/apply/xxjkx1khim
Research Associate/Fellow in Politics, University of Nottingham, £27-£40k - Apply by 26th April
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/jobs/currentvacancies/ref/SOC087721
Head of Content Design, FutureGov, £65k - Apply by 23rd April
https://jobs.lever.co/wearefuturegov/0662e9de-a4f1-4fbb-9b64-3e588d9dbd5d
Interaction Designer, FutureGov, £35-50k - Apply by 23rd April
https://jobs.lever.co/wearefuturegov/00383f12-16c9-4528-a902-c961503bc9e1
Perl Developer, mySociety, £40-46k – Applications Open
https://apply.workable.com/mysociety/j/836E21DEC7/
Opportunities Development Coordinator, Shout Out UK, £18,720 – Applications Open
https://www.shoutoutuk.org/opportunities/
Operations Manager, Center for Countering Digital Hate, £50k - Apply by 15th April
https://www.counterhate.com/jobs
Membership and Operations Manager, Hansard Society, £38k - Apply by 26th April
https://app.beapplied.com/apply/djmv6s29de
OrgBuilder Coach (Contact), New Economy Organisers Network, £300 per day - Apply by 22nd April
https://neweconomyorganisers.org/about/jobs/orgbuilders-coach/
Unsalaried job listings
Business Analyst (Contractor), FutureGov, salary not given - Deadline N/A
https://jobs.lever.co/wearefuturegov/e21e7994-e2e0-40b4-99ec-dd3e59bdbd44
Contract Specialist (Part-time), Purpose, salary not given - Deadline N/A
https://www.purpose.com/jobs/#job-id-2109044
That’s all for this week, if you’ve found this useful, please forward it on to your colleagues. They can sign up for these emails here.
You can now set up a new recurring calendar event for the weekly Democracy Meetup, you can add it to your calendar here.
We’ve been experimenting with the format of this email and the accompanying meetup, if you have any feedback we’d be glad to hear it.
Our meetup documents are open all week. If you can’t make our weekly meetup, you can always drop in to the meetup document of the current week and add to it by going to democracymeetup.org.uk.
See you next time,
James, Molly and the Democracy Handbook team