The Chancellor wants to change the narrative to get Britain growing. According to last week’s Mansion House speech and the raft of documents from the Treasury that we have seen in the past week. She wants us all to take more risks. Rather than discussing risks, let’s focus on opportunities.

5654 & Company’s sixth annual Hope Index – which studies how hopeful the UK public feel about their lives, their community and the country and was launched today – reveals the divide between “the hopeful” and “the pessimists” within the UK public, and how this has begun to emerge along party political lines in the last year.

Over the last five years we have been tracking levels of hope across the UK. We believe this is an important topic to study because it helps us understand how the underlying mood of the public is changing over time. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, we have seen the nation’s mood swing from hopeful to uncertain as we’ve lived though the arrival and ending of the pandemic, a rolling cost-of-living crisis and multiple Prime Ministers and Governments struggling to seize the agenda and lead. 

Next Wednesday, the Chancellor will stand to announce the outcome of the Government’s Spending Review. The results of fraught closed door negotiations of recent weeks, between the Treasury Spending team and Whitehall departments, will become clear.

Transforming the NHS: A Triple Dividend - 5654 & Company publishes a paper on how innovation, partnership and investment can deliver better patient outcomes, improved NHS productivity and stronger economic growth 

5654 reported before the recent local elections that indications from the ground campaign of various parties suggested Reform might be performing even stronger than pollsters were predicting. But the scale of Reform’s success outstripped even those expectations. 

Corporate Affairs Consultancy 5654 & Company has appointed three new Directors to broaden and deepen its strategic communications and political advisory expertise.

Digital Natives Reshape Westminster: 5654 & Company and Message Space publish one of the most comprehensive surveys on MP media habits.

5654’s latest research with the Labour Growth Group shows that Labour’s electoral chances will be defined by ‘campaigning in costs’

Sir Jonathan previously served as Deputy Chief Medical Officer to HM Government from 2017 to 2022 and was pivotal in shaping the UK's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our final essay is by Tessy Ojo CBE, Chief Executive of The Diana Award.

James Starkie, Partner at 5654, considers what’s next for the Conservative Party.

Matthew Neal, Head of Health & Life Sciences at 5654, takes a look at the prospects for the industry in 2025.

Simon Jackson, Partner at 5654, takes a look at Labour’s options moving forwards in Government.

Cameron Scott, Partner at 5654, looks at how local relationships and contribution are increasingly important for any business strategy.

Daniel Rice, Director of Marketing Communications and Content at 5654, analyses the latest social platform in the wake of X’s tumultous year.

Robert Nisbet, Partner at 5654, looks at the shift in media consumption and how businesses can navigate this.

Sally Payne, Partner at 5654, on why storytelling must be part of your communications strategy in 2025.

Amanda Walters, Director at the Centre for Progressive Change, pens our next essay.

The new Labour Government came to office with the pledge to “get Britain building”. For Keir Starmer and his team this is essential to deliver on its key missions.