A selection of our recent appearances in the UK media.
18 September 2025
Labour needs private schools – they are its voter base
But I couldn’t help but chuckle yesterday at the latest data from More in Common. Whilst most of the pollsters had a shocker at last year’s election, Luke Tryl and his team were mostly on the money. They continue to provide fascinating breakdowns of their regular headline voting intention figures. Which party is most popular with Aperol Spritz drinkers? Who is a fan of fish and chips most likely to vote for versus a pizza aficionado? I’ve yet to find a better way of making psephology fun.
This time, it was voting intention by school type: state, state selective (grammar schools, in old money) and private. The headline figures put Reform on 32 per cent, Labour on 21 per cent, and the Tories on 18 per cent. For state schools, it was essentially the same: 33, 20, and 17 respectively.
16 September 2025
Trump lands in Britain’s ‘autumn of discontent’
As the U.S. president touches down in the U.K., PM Keir Starmer is under political pressure and is facing street protests.
Luke Tryl, executive director of the More in Common think tank, which regularly tracks public sentiment, said: “There is no doubt that many Britons are deeply disillusioned with the state of the country today, and few people are happy with the trajectory the U.K. is on.
“The simple truth is life feels too hard, and politicians seem unresponsive to the public mood or even not in control at all.”
16 September 2025
Eight in 10 Brits say Keir's Starmer's Government is as sleazy as last Tory one
Nearly six out of 10 (59%) Labour voters say this Government is as sleazy as its predecessor. A third of Britons (32%) believe it is “more sleazy”.
Luke Tryl of More in Common, which published the polling, said: “The past two weeks have been among the most difficult for the Government so far, and for the Prime Minister himself. Following Angela Rayner’s resignation and now the Mandelson scandal, Starmer’s ratings have sunk to a new low.
“Four in five Britons now think this Government is just as sleazy as the last, and that view has risen most among Labour’s own voters, with most of those who voted for the party now saying they are no less sleazy than the government they replaced.”
15 September 2025
This age of extreme nihilism threatens us all
For all the ink that has been justly spilt on the dangers of partisanship and polarisation, this mood of nihilism may be the most underrated and perhaps most poisonous force in our politics today.
The pollster Luke Tryl has charted the rise of “burn it all down” sentiment, prevalent in America and now spreading to Britain. In a recent survey of UK voters, 38 per cent agreed with the statement, “When I think about our political and social institutions I cannot help thinking ‘just let them all burn’.” It is no accident that this is an age of violent protest across the political spectrum.
14 September 2025
Virginia Giuffre family: Starmer should never have appointed Mandelson
Sir Keir Starmer should not have appointed Lord Mandelson as US ambassador, the family of Virginia Giuffre said as the political crisis over the prime minister’s handling of the scandal deepened.
A study published this year by the think tank More in Common found that Burnham was the only Labour politician Britons would prefer to see in Downing Street instead of Starmer. He enjoys positive approval ratings in the polls — more than 50 points superior to his party’s leader.
12 September 2025
Reform UK's astonishing rise shows no sign of slowing in another crushing blow to rivals
More In Common, for instance, saw Reform's lead over Labour jump by 1 point (11 ahead versus 10 in late August) in its latest September reading.
One would have thought Sir Keir Starmer's reshuffle helped the government regain some credibility. If so, only YouGov seemed to pick this up. And woe unto to the Tories. In nearly a month, Kemi Badenoch's party has barely hit 20%. Analysis suggests Reform is doing especially well amongst disgruntled former Tories, notwithstanding a significant number of Red Wall types shifting from Labour.