Progressive politicians need to develop a more compelling vision of the nation and radical, complementary plans to reform the economy and the workings of the state if they want to stop Nigel Farage entering Downing Street in 2029. This will be the key message of the inaugural Addison Lecture, to be delivered on Monday 8th June 2026 by Nathan Yeowell, the Executive Director of The Future Governance Forum think tank (FGF).
The clashes and crises of the twenty-first century have left the country exhausted and voters repeatedly – and rightly – demanding change they feel never comes. Yeowell will argue that more muscular, progressive politics is needed to take the kind of bold action the British public is crying out for. Right now, the state itself is acting as an obstacle to this happening. In order to build a better future, Yeowell will call on progressives of all stripes to put fundamental economic and other structural reforms at the heart of their respective political programmes.
He will also make the case for the importance of a unifying national story to hold back the tides of populism and separatism across the UK. In an environment where prodigious, competing polling data can lead to the hyper-fragmentation of political messaging, he will urge progressives to reconnect with the concept of nationhood, placing it at the heart of their efforts to tell a more coherent public narrative and create credible platforms for renewal.
Nathan Yeowell, Executive Director of FGF, said: “For too long, progressive leaders have forgotten, or lost faith in, their ability to set the political weather in Britain, rather than simply respond to it. With voters sliding to either end of the political spectrum, or voting for separatist parties in Scotland and Wales, this needs to change. Instead of relying on polling and focus groups to scoop up voters in strategically significant seats, progressive politicians must lead with a confident vision of the country’s future and make a values-driven case for it.
“The populist right understands this and succeeds in winning voters over with tales of bygone glories and modern-day malaise. But the substance of their rhetoric is often paper thin.
“Progressive politicians leading the fight against Farage at the next general election will need to set out the vision of the nation they want to create, how they intend to drive meaningful economic change that people and places need – and how more dynamic, structural reforms of the state can help deliver and sustain them.
“Politicians, policymakers and practitioners all need to raise their sights – and their game – for the challenges to come.”
The inaugural Addison Lecture will take place at Portcullis House on Monday 8th June 2026. It is the first in a new, annual series devoted to the politics, mechanics and aspirations of progressive policy discussion, design and delivery. The lecture series has been named after early 20th Century progressive politician Christopher Addison. A noted New Liberal, Coalitionist and Labour cabinet minister under Asquith, Lloyd George, Ramsay MacDonald and Clement Attlee, he served as Minister of Reconstruction during the First World War, as the first ever Minister of Health in the 1920s, and as Attlee’s Leader of the House of Lords in the 1940s. He was an early advocate of state innovation and mobilisation to tackle demographic, social and technological pressures.
The Future Governance Forum (FGF) is more than a traditional, policy-focused think tank: we concentrate on the how as much as the what of policy design and implementation. We look to advance new approaches to progressive policymaking and delivery, with a focus spanning national, devolved, regional, and local government. Since launching in 2023, we have looked at issues including: the reform of Downing Street; setting Great British Railways up for success; frameworks for greater economic devolution and for model strategic authorities; the principles and practices of mission-driven government; new models of public private partnerships; changes to the fiscal rules; and reform of UK pensions.
Nathan Yeowell is the Executive Director and founder of The Future Governance Forum (FGF). Previously, he was the founder and Co-Director of the Labour Party organising platform Labour to Win; Director of Progress/Progressive Britain; Head of Policy & External Affairs at the social sector think tank New Philanthropy Capital (NPC); and Head of the Labour Group Office at the Local Government Association (LGA). He is the editor of Rethinking Labour’s Past (2022).
