What is Campaign Lab?
Thousands of activists across the UK volunteer their time and energy for campaigns every year. Year in, year out, we use the same campaigning methods and tools we always have, because we think they work.
But as technology changes how we work and live, it will also change how we campaign!
We are a community of politically-minded progressive data scientists, researchers and campaigners who are working together to develop innovative election tools and improve the way we analyse and understand campaigning.
How we work
Innovation
For campaigners the story of politics and technology has often been a fraught one. Tools are often difficult to use or not built with the user in mind.
We invite campaign organisers from across the UK to join us and share their problems and work with our volunteer technologists to help solve them.
Community
Campaign Lab brings together campaigners, developers and data scientists from across the progressive spectrum in regular Hack Days and Hack Nights.
We’re working to build a network of people committed to a new culture of campaign innovation and experimentation.
Research
Our work is based on research and evidence. We are creating a Library of Campaign Experiments. This involves both running experiments (RCTs & A/B Tests), conducting innovative research and summarising the findings of academic papers in a way that makes them more accessible.
Get in touch if you are interested in running an experiment!
Our Network:
Academics
Our research and experiments are guided by a strong network of non-partisan academic experts, helping us design effective studies, develop robust measures, and uphold the high standards of research quality.
Campaigners
Our campaigners ground our work in real-world needs. They bring frontline insight from constituencies on the ground, helping us test and apply tools where they matter most – on the doorstep, in communities, and during elections.
Technologists
Our technologists are the creative engine behind Campaign Lab’s tools. They design, test, and build practical tools for campaigners – drawing on skills from data science, software development, and research. They turn ideas from the field into working prototypes that help the progressive ecosystem campaign more effectively.
Hear from our community:
“I thoroughly enjoyed the hack day as we tackled real-world challenges affecting election campaigns. Collaborating with data scientists, researchers, and developers at Campaign Lab was truly commendable. I found great satisfaction in developing innovative solutions and creating tools that have the potential to reshape the political landscape. What particularly impressed me about Campaign Lab was that it wasn’t solely focused on building solutions; we also engaged in thoughtful discussions and brainstorming sessions. I’m hopeful that our efforts have made a meaningful impact and eagerly anticipate witnessing the positive changes that result.”
Dave,
Hackday attendee
“I volunteered with Campaign Lab to practice my skills with projects that make a positive change, and the community was so friendly and welcoming!”
Lucy,
Volunteer
“Incredibly useful session, and helpful for designing campaigns at a local level. If Labour get into government this will help communities push the agenda for tangible change and communicating this back to wider community. The presentation and discussion focusing on insight and reflection on the infrastructure of decision making in Westminster was clear to understand. Thank you I certainly learnt something.”
Claire,
Training Attendee
Our projects:
Problem Addressed AI persuasion has become an increasingly important area of research in political campaigning. A growing body of academic work suggests that large language models and conversational AI may be capable of influencing opinions, increasing engagement, and changing behaviour under certain conditions. At the same time, modern elections are characterised by high levels of […]
- Who's this helpful for: Campaigners, Researchers
Motivation and Methods Immigration consistently ranks as one of the issues of greatest concern among UK voters1. As Reform has gained momentum based on its messaging around this issue, being able to understand and respond to public opinion on this is an increasing priority. This article summarises findings from a larger report produced by Campaign […]
- Who's this helpful for: Campaigners, Journalists, Researchers
Why we’ve made this… The 2026 local elections are shaping up to be a key moment in the contest between progressives and the far right. The stakes are real. In many places, residents could find themselves living under Reform-led councils. But these elections also matter because the results that comes out of May will shape […]
Latest news:
Project Link Problem Addressed Local Facebook groups are often a rich source of information for campaigners, providing insight into the issues, concerns and conversations shaping communities. While campaign teams frequently monitor individual posts and comments, doing so at scale is difficult. We wanted to explore whether AI-assisted social listening could help identify the issues people […]
- Who's this helpful for: Campaigners, Journalists, Members of parliament, Researchers
- Blog
- Greying Gap
It is well established that older people tend to vote conservative, and this holds strongly in the UK: from 2017, age has replaced class as the primary voting indicator, and the gap between the voting preferences of older and younger people continues to grow. In this Academic Series event, Dr Laura Serra joined us to […]
- Who's this helpful for: Campaigners
Political parties increasingly rely on sympathisers becoming activists – spreading messages, donating money, and volunteering time. However, activism is inherently costly in time and money to the individual, leading modern parties to an important question: how can parties turn sympathy into action? Francisco (Paco) Tomas-Valiente is a PhD student studying how parties use moral rhetoric […]
- Who's this helpful for: Campaigners, Members of parliament, Researchers
Our partners + supporters:
