‘Europe’ has barely been out of the headlines of late, but it will be of no surprise to readers to learn that thinktanks have been plugging away for years at what a reformed European Union may look like. Established players include the London-based Centre for European Reform, the Brussels-based European Policy Centre, and the economics-focused …

‘Are there gaps in our “pyramid of engagement”?’ ‘How do we “reuse the wheel”?’ ‘Can we be “digital by default”?’ These were the questions circulating somewhere in the ether above a crowded room of thinktankers gathered together on the initiative of Social Market Foundation at the Overseas Development Institute London headquarters in close partnership with …

‘She was the best thing going for them’, was how one wonk world insider described the departure of Caroline Macfarland from ResPublica after three years last month. ResPublica’s wonky reputation was established by the original ‘red Tory’ Phillip Blond, one-time theology lecturer and formerly of Demos, where he ran its ‘progressive conservatism’ project. In 2010 …

Twenty-six months remain until the next general election, as Jon Cruddas reminded the audience at the recent launch of IPPR’s Condition of Britain project. Time to get the policy house in order, then. Three years lacking clear pitches for the doorstep may have felt  frustrating for activists but the period of reflection may be resulting …

Just as Progress was ushering in 2013 with its annual New Year New Labour party, ‘liberal, progressive’ Conservative organisation Bright Blue launched a booklet entitled Tory Modernisation 2.0: The Future of the Conservative Party. With contributions from figures ranging from cabinet ministers to Conservative Research Department alumni and thinktankers from Demos, Policy Exchange and Social …

UK tanks are parking themselves firmly on the European Union’s lawn – thinktanks, that is. From IPPR’s new report Staying In: A reform plan for Britain and Europe, to the Centre for Policy Studies’ The UK and the EU: Cutting the knot, each anticipates a point in the near future when, euro-crisis resolved, the weight …

It is both interesting and heartening that the most fruitful and constructive strands of debate taking place within Labour about the party’s future in large part concur in the view that the state must and can change by becoming more open, with greater involvement by the public and more power to professionals. The debate is …

October again, which means here at Tanked Up we cast a customary cursory glance over what the thinktanks are getting up to on their party conference tour. Progress will be going to Manchester and no further, but our friends in the Fabian Society are heading to Brighton and Birmingham, teaming up with ResPublica and CentreForum …

‘We have never aimed to be popular, and we have been very successful at times in being unpopular.’ Thus wrote the chair of the long-standing Conservative thinktank, The Bow Group, as the institution marked its 60th birthday over the summer. The group’s new president, John Major, addressed its annual summer reception on the Palace of …

Greater transparency is part of the zeitgeist of the political era, as different layers of government rush to publish what they spend, and even the prime minister’s private text messages are revealed to the world at large. Thinktanks are no exception to the prevailing mood. The recently launched website Who Funds You? rated 20 thinktanks …