About

Three decades at the heart of British politics

Founded in 1993 in response to a shortage of new ideas in British politics, we’ve spent three decades cementing our place as a trusted expert, political convener and generator of ideas. Movements, ideologies and governments have come and gone. Yet in this moment of global democratic emergency, Demos’s work could not be more urgent or relevant.

The Democratic Doom Loop

Trust in institutions is falling, public debate is polarised, and too many people feel democracy no longer delivers for them. As trust declines, participation drops, discourse hardens and institutions struggle to respond. This is the democratic doom loop.

At Demos, our overarching mission is to upgrade democracy in the UK and build a system powered by trusting relationships, information and technology, fit for our times. We are designing the practical foundations of a new deal between citizen, state and the institutions that shape daily lives.

Our work focuses on four pillars that span the interface between state and citizen: Everyday Democracy, Public Service Reform, the Citizen Economy, and Resilient Information Ecosystems – with technology and AI shaping each.

Research and ideas

The Demos team combines deep expertise in research, policy and participatory methods. Our work is innovative and sector-leading. From the UK’s largest trial of digital democracy to convening MPs and citizens to tackle complex policy challenges, our focus is on tangible solutions and lasting change.

Our ideas are bold, evidence-driven and backed by strong networks across politics and industry. From senior civil servants to business leaders, decision-makers turn to Demos for trusted insight and practical answers.

Our charitable status

As an independent educational charity, Demos exists to promote education and research for the public benefit in issues of politics, economics, technology and the digital economy, methods and practices of public deliberation, the environment and public policy, and to make the research findings publicly available. It achieves these objectives by carrying out research projects, convening experts and citizens, and through publishing in a number of different formats.

We are governed by a Board of Trustees who set the strategy for the organisation and are accountable for its oversight.

Financial reporting

We are proud that our ideas are supported by a wide range of commercial, charitable and public funders. We accept financial donations for our work from organisations who are committed to supporting us to achieve our charitable objectives and understand that all the work we undertake under our charitable status is editorially independent of funders.

We are deeply committed to providing transparency in our financial dealings and funding sources, and strive for global best practice in our reporting. We declare all our funding sources in our published reports.

Below are our annual reports and accounts since 2002:

The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on this website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Demos’ awarded and contracted funding for the 2015-2024 Financial Years:

Demos – Funding 2024 Financial Year
Demos – Funding 2023 Financial Year
Demos – Funding 2022 Financial Year
Demos – Funding 2021 Financial Year
Demos – Funding 2020 Financial Year
Demos – Funding 2019 Financial Year
Demos – Funding 2018 Financial Year
Demos – Funding 2017 Financial Year
Demos – Funding 2016 Financial Year
Demos – Funding 2015 Financial Year

Publishing

Demos is an open access publisher. Most of our archive and all new publications are available in electronic form to download free from our website. Find out more information on our open access license.