This is an excellent read. First thing I've consumed since subscribing and now can't wait to read more.

How can social democrats offer an optimistic, futurist alternative to the dominant tech ideologies of 'Effective Altruism', 'Anglofuturism', and 'Accelerationism? @demofuturist.bsky.social sets out the beginnings of an approach: (subscribe to read)

This seems like a very timely and important issue - we're going through very crucial times for social democracy everywhere.

Huge thanks to @anneliesedoddsmp.bsky.social for this fascinating and timely lecture on the social democratic response to big tech. Look out for the full lecture, forthcoming in our end-of-year double issue.

“[Reform is] left with a workerist aesthetic propped up by funds from those for whom labour standards, labour conditions, and indeed labour itself are not particularly meaningful categories.” 🖊️ @sachahilhorst.bsky.social for @renewaljournal.bsky.social renewal.org.uk/articles/ref...

So much talk about Reform voters, but I'm yet to read much about their lives beyond tropes and excuses ('legitimate concerns'). I've been back in the midlands to interview people and learn more. Here's my piece on them and Reform's attempts to present itself as a community-minded, pro-worker party:

Sacha also highlights the damage that chasing the support of people who will never vote Labour does to the rest of our coalition:

Sacha's interviews highlight the danger of assuming Reform voters with left-coded economic views can be easily won back to Labour. If someone thinks your party is part of a globalist WEF conspiracy to hide the truth about the pyramids, "renationalised railways" won't get them to vote for you...

Sacha's work presented here is a fascinating and sensitive deep dive into how de-industrialisation has been felt, understood, and interpreted in the places Reform is now winning, with reflections on what it means for Labour's political strategy

The median social democrat’s ambition is to have a bit less greed and better public services. It’s not enough to contest the future. I argue we need a deeper engagement with tech. We can look to Taiwan as an example of a state using tech strengthening the democratic process 👇

This issue looks fantastically rich -- and urgent, given the times in which we live. I can't wait to dive in.

Blockbuster issue here. A lot of great analysis on the far right, which seems pertinent right now. Also some interesting ethnography and history. And a social democratic response to various right-adjacent futurisms from me!

renewal.org.uk/articles/soc... my essay on Labour strategy in the face of Reform threat ... free to read 👇🏽 ( but subscribe if you can)

Short essay for @renewaljournal.bsky.social me and Vallu wrote on Farage, politics and pubs... a bit of a preview to the book we're working on about pubs, race and the nation to be published with @manchesterup.bsky.social in September 2026 renewal.org.uk/articles/the...

Thrilled with this v kind review of my book - many thanks to Joanna Cohen, not least for this: "this is a gripping story, packed full of characters who themselves seem almost fictional." Particularly chuffed this is in an edition about how to face down toxic right-populism. Looking fwd to reading.

The new issue of @renewaljournal.bsky.social, themed around the far right, is out now and it couldn't be more timely. Free to read articles by guest editor @sachahilhorst.bsky.social, @profafinlayson.bsky.social and Cailtlin Prowle. Subscribe here to read the rest: renewal.org.uk/journal/volu...

A Q&A I did earlier this year with about digital political culture. Some might find it relevant to current events. The tl;dr is that it’s all different but it’s also the same: people want and need a vocabulary to think with & things to do to feel like agents in their lives. Who gives that wins.

NEW ISSUE: Renewal Vol. 33 No. 2 Published amidst far-right mobilisation and a Reform surge, the new issue of Renewal (guest co-edited by @sachahilhorst.bsky.social) features activists, journalists, and academics analysing the radical right threat and debating how social democrats can respond

Trump’s 2nd term has left many clinging to the status quo on climate multilateralism. We argue for more. Proud to publish w/ @americanprogress.bsky.social 's Ryan Mulholland & @mwilli.bsky.social on how global trade policy can back workers, industries & the planet. 🔗 renewal.org.uk/blog/a-multi...

NEW on Renewal Online: Megan Corton Scott of @lcefuk.bsky.social and Mike Williams and Ryan Mulholland of @americanprogress.bsky.social argue that multilateral trade policy is an essential tool in the fight against climate change renewal.org.uk/blog/a-multi...

I join the now abundant discourse about Abundance. A good book but more importantly a bellwether book for the orientation of the center-left. But like many, they hope we can engineer a way around politics and put things back in the hands of competent technocrats...I am not so sure...

'Abundance is not so much about overcoming neoliberalism, as its authors claim, but about patching it up.' @stevenklein.bsky.social reviews Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's Abundance. renewal.org.uk/blog/can-abu...

"those on the right-wing demonstration scene are often not of the maligned, silent majority which some implicitly lionise them as. The most prominent single social demographic which sets the tone of these affairs is in fact the lumpenproletariat" Aaron Wells on the class politics of hotel protests

Really pleased to have published this incisive first-hand account of the class dynamics of asylum hotel protests: renewal.org.uk/blog/screami...

"those on the right-wing demonstration scene are often not of the maligned, silent majority which some implicitly lionise them as. The most prominent single social demographic which sets the tone of these affairs is in fact the lumpenproletariat" Aaron Wells on the class politics of hotel protests

Given the deputy leadership race, I've been revisiting Bridget Phillipson's post 2019 election piece for @renewaljournal.bsky.social, which I've always thought was an usually interesting and perceptive bit of writing from an MP: www.bridgetphillipson.com/articles/202...

Want to understand what has made Pedro Sánchez and the PSOE so successful? Read the essay from the previous issue of @renewaljournal.bsky.social: "Daring to deliver: Pedro Sánchez and the revival of Spanish social democracy"

Really enjoyed this evening’s @renewaljournal.bsky.social lecture from Anneliese Dodds. She’s right that delivery in government is necessary but not sufficient. Labour must protect democracy and be a voice for humans in the age of AI. #Labour #AI #democracy

Anneliese Dodds MP takes on the dominance of the (tech) bros in our democracy in her fantastic inaugural @renewaljournal.bsky.social Rita Hinden Memorial Lecture

Anneliese Dodds speaking at the @renewaljournal.bsky.social Rita Hinden Lecture tonight. Her talk identifies the "tech bros", and the systems they oversee and interventions they make, as a threat to "free and fair democracy". She argues the left should focus strongly on protecting democracy.

“As social democrats we must be clear that AI is ultimately parasitic on our collective endeavours”

"public opinion should only be one consideration among many in policymaking and party strategy, and never the prime mover of politics." @philswatton.bsky.social on the pitfalls of poll-driven politics and the importance of political leadership. renewal.org.uk/blog/public-...

A reminder that this event is tomorrow at City St Georges. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of our co—sponsor the Finsbury Institute. Attendance is free but booking required here: www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

A reminder that Anneliese Dodds, who resigned from Starmer's government, is giving the Rita Hinden memorial lecture for @renewaljournal.bsky.social on Tuesday. With the government in obvious distress and a deputy leadership contest imminent, I am intrigued about what she will say.

If you want to know where the soft left is going in terms of thinking about tech, this is probably as good a place to start as any.

We are pleased to announce the title of Anneliese Dodds's Rita Hinden Memorial Lecture this coming Tuesday 9th September: "Why Labour mustn't lose: social democracy vs the bros" Tickets are still available, and can be booked for free here: www.eventbrite.com/e/renewal-pr...

YES YES YES, FINALLY PEOPLE ARE GETTING IT. A hardcore, energized base wins over people in the middle. Read this entire article. This is why liberals have been losing: they've been listening to quants who obsess over median voter opinion and ignore social dynamics. renewal.org.uk/blog/why-lab...

I wrote this piece in an attempt to get to grips with economic thinking inside the faction of the Labour Party know as Blue Labour. I hope it's of some interest.

"there is not much about Blue Labour’s economic programme that is genuinely populist, in the sense of putting power back into the hands of working-class citizens and communities" @seanirving.bsky.social on the political economy of Blue Labour

NEW on Renewal Online: @demofuturist.bsky.social on how Labour needs to adapt its communications strategy to the new dynamics of online politics renewal.org.uk/blog/why-lab...

enjoyed this review of Nye – it's a deeply touching play, but the UK is terrified to ask questions about the NHS that might end up undermining the institution, so it feels hagiographic. The scene with the GPs who insist on more money to join the NHS is the edgiest bit, but it's all over quickly.

Two new pieces on our site consider how the left thinks about the NHS...

Renewal is excited to announce Dr. Anneliese Dodds MP as the inaugural speaker for our new annual Rita Hinden Memorial Lecture. The Lecture will be held on Tuesday 9th September at City St. George's University. Register for free here: www.eventbrite.com/e/renewal-pr...?

Good round up of the 'Chris-mass exodus' that Labour experienced last week and what it means for the builders vs blockers debate in the wider labour movement.

"The YIMBYs of the party must speak to a Labour vision for Britain, not shoehorn the word Labour into a pre-existing single issue campaign" @mcortonscott.bsky.social assesses the current state of Labour YIMBYism, after the departures of Chrises Hinchliffe and Worrall

As a recess treat, I wrote about the week where the Labour Party lost two Chrises, and what it means for the ongoing discourse on growth, planning and Labour YIMBYism. renewal.org.uk/blog/the-chr...

Great to have Rich and Josh in the pages of Renewal making the case for a neighbourhood governance agenda which meets the political moment - rather than falling back on stale, existing structures.

There are echoes here of the call to require mayors and members of strategic authorities to produce community empowerment plans setting out how they will engage with local communities www.themj.co.uk/future-proof...