Keir Starmer became prime minister after Labour won the election with a large majority.Credit: Ricky Vigil/Getty
The United Kingdom’s incoming Labour government will have a long list of issues to tackle after winning a decisive victory in yesterday’s general election — and scientists are hoping that the shake-up will bring positive change.
Having scored substantial majority of more than 170 seats in yesterday’s vote, Labour will form the next UK government, ending 14 years of Conservative rule. In his first speech outside 10 Downing Street, the new prime minister Keir Starmer said that his government would “rebuild Britain with wealth created in every community” as it seeks to undo many of the problems facing the country’s public services and institutions.
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“With this election result the new Labour Government led by Sir Keir Starmer has a real opportunity to drive change in the UK,” Alicia Greated, executive director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, said in a statement. “Science, engineering, and broader R&D are huge assets for the UK’s ability to innovate and produce economic growth.”
Joe Marshall, chief executive of the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), said his organisation was “heartened to see how central research and innovation was in Labour’s manifesto” and that innovation “should be at the forefront of the government’s economic plan to recover and should form the base of their new Industrial Strategy”.
Money worries
One area that requires immediate attention is funding for UK universities, many of which have found themselves in dire financial straits owing to a combination of falling international student numbers and tuition fees that have been frozen since 2017. University finances are “one of the things that could explode in the early months of a Labour government”, says James Wilsdon, a science-policy researcher at University College London. An estimated 40% of UK universities are running a deficit this year, and some are at risk of bankruptcy, he adds.
While in power, the Conservatives raised visa fees and introduced stricter criteria for overseas researchers coming to the United Kingdom to work or study. This has worsened the situation, with international applications to UK universities dropping by 44% this year. “The real problem with the last 14 years of government has been that universities have been seen as evil, liberal, ‘woke’ public sector organisations,” says Kieron Flanagan, a science-policy researcher at the University of Manchester, UK. “The Conservatives have simultaneously had a pro-science, pro-research, and anti-universities policy.”
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In contrast, Labour has “made it clear they’re not going to continue this war on universities”, says Flanagan. But he adds that the party was vague in its manifesto about how it would tackle the issue of university finances. It has a couple of options, including raising tuition fees — which would be “politically unpalatable”, says Flanagan — or increasing public spending on universities.
For broader research and development (R&D) funding, Labour said in its manifesto that it wants to “scrap short funding cycles for key R&D institutions”, such as UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), “in favour of ten-year budgets”. This would be a popular move for scientists. “Science works on long timescales, so creating that certainty helps with attracting private investment,” says Martin Smith, a policy specialist at the London-based biomedical funding charity Wellcome. It’s unlikely that the new government will make this reform an immediate goal, he adds. “That would be the sort of thing that comes out in the spending review in the autumn.”
New science minister
In the coming days, Starmer will assemble his cabinet, which will include appointing ministers to oversee science and research. While Labour was in opposition, such positions were held by Peter Kyle, Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Chi Onwurah, the shadow minister for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation. Kyle is “an influential figure close to Starmer and I think most people would consider it a very positive outcome if he ended up continuing in that role”, says Wilsdon. Smith says that Onwurah “has been around for a very long time and is very familiar with science policy”, and the science sector “would find themselves reassured if she has a role”.
The establishment of a new government can also involve changes to departments. Scientists will be interested to see whether Labour keeps the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which the Conservative government established in February 2023. Smith says it has been too early to see if DSIT has been successful, but in principle the department allows “the ability to coordinate the science agenda right across government”.
