Get Involved

Research

Rigorous research for a stronger movement

We believe good research makes everyone in the movement stronger. That’s why we run large-scale experiments, partner with academics, and work closely with campaigners to understand what really moves the dial.

In 2024, we ran the largest political Randomised Control Trial in UK history, tested hyperlocal messaging at scale, and used AI to analyse how people talk about politics online – producing insights that helped shape campaign strategy across the ecosystem.

Our research is designed to be practical and shareable. Whether it’s testing new tactics or exploring how new tech can be used ethically, our goal is simple: generate evidence that helps campaigners win – and share what we learn, so no one has to start from scratch.

whiteboard research

Showcase

This test examined how different peer-to-peer (P2P) SMS message framings affect member engagement during a time-sensitive Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) effort for an internal organisational vote. The core challenge was to identify whether more informational or narrative-driven messages could outperform a simple reminder in prompting members to respond and confirm participation before the voting deadline.
  • Who's this helpful for: Campaigners
This pilot study explored whether visible campaign materials, specifically, garden stakes, affect voter turnout during elections. The underlying hypothesis was that visible signs of community political support might influence civic behaviour by fostering social norms around participation, signalling local engagement, or encouraging individuals to vote when they see that others nearby are politically active.
  • Who's this helpful for: Campaigners

Campaigners often assume that people are more likely to be persuaded by someone who looks or sounds like them, someone of a similar age, gender, or background. After all, research has long shown that we tend to trust people who seem “like us.” But a new study challenges that assumption head-on. In their paper, Shared […]

  • Who's this helpful for: Campaigners

In the tenth edition of the Campaign Lab Academic Series, Isolde Hegemann, a PhD researcher at the London School of Economics, presented early findings from a major new study examining how Republicans in the United States respond to different forms of fact-checking. Her work comes at a moment when the American information environment has shifted […]

  • Who's this helpful for: Researchers, Technologists

The ninth entry of our Academic Series asked a deceptively simple question: how did Labour secure one of the largest post-war majorities in 2024 while winning a historically low share of the vote for a governing party? Professor Charles Pattie walked us through the mechanics of First Past the Post (FPTP) to explain why this […]

  • Who's this helpful for: Campaigners, Researchers
When it comes to campaigning, the use of QR codes is relatively under-researched. Hence, through these two tests, we aimed to find out more about what makes people scan them and how they fit into local campaigning. In 2024, we ran two tests, one in Warwickshire and one in Maidenhead, testing what sort of issues make people scan a QR code on a leaflet and whether doorknocking or the position of the code on the leaflet have any impact on scan rates.
  • Who's this helpful for: Campaigners
This RCT investigated whether campaign materials attacking incumbents could influence voter turnout. Specifically, we tested whether mailers during the 2024 General Election criticising either local Conservative MPs or the national Conservative government could increase turnout among Labour supporters or decrease turnout among Conservatives. We were also interested in finding out whether messages focused on local MPs would be more effective than those referencing the national government.
  • Who's this helpful for: Campaigners, Members of parliament

For the latest entry in our Academic Series we welcomed Dr. Stephanie Luke, Lecturer in Politics at Cardiff University, whose research focuses on how political parties adapt their strategies in the face of new challenges. Her talk, titled When Attack Strategies Backfire Dr. Luke’s research looked closely at how this competition played out in the […]

  • Who's this helpful for: Campaigners, Journalists, Members of parliament, Researchers