20 March 2024

WATCH: Samantha Niblett, Founder of Labour: Women in Tech talk about her organisation.

This week, H/Advisors Cicero, in partnership with Labour: Women in Tech, was delighted to welcome Darren Jones MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to a roundtable discussion on how best to champion female entrepreneurs and boost investment in the UK science and technology sectors.

Darren explained how a Labour government would be a strong ally to the tech sector and specifically to women in tech, adding that female leaders are an untapped resource in the UK economy. Citing Rachel Reeves’ claim during her Mais Lecture that harnessing female entrepreneurship could add £200bn to UK GDP, Darren emphasised that partnership between government and tech companies is vital.

Women’s careers in tech and investment in female entrepreneurship

The roundtable centred around the challenges that the next government will have to face in this area – particularly the lack of investment in female-founded companies, which receive less than 2% of venture capital funding. The discussions shed light on how investment programmes are often inadequate in both addressing the knowledge gap that precludes women from a career in tech, as well as in identifying the firms and individuals that most deserve and would most benefit from funding.

The discussion also looked at whether the lack of women in positions to make investment decisions has an impact in the lack of investment in female-founded companies, despite the appetite among institutional investors and impressive track records of returns. Potential solutions put forward included a B-Corp style seal of approval that companies can apply for to show their commitment to invest in women. Labour’s proposals to empower the British Business Bank (BBB) with a broader remit to expand access to capital, as well as its planned reforms to reform the Apprenticeship Levy into a Skills Levy, were highlighted as promising steps forward.

Participants emphasised the need for vocal backing from government for funding and skills programmes to increase visibility of the significant work that women in tech are making to the sector and the broader economy. Such initiatives must be sufficiently well-funded to avoid over-mentoring and deliver tangible benefits to recipients.

3 areas for developing women’s advancement in the tech sector

Three key areas were identified as important for advancing the position of women in tech:

• beginning with capital;
• then the connections which open the door to that capital;
• and lastly the contracts that help to match buying organisations with female-founded companies.

Darren Jones welcomed the points raised throughout the roundtable, which comes at an important time with Labour working on the delivery of three separate products that will seek to tackle the issues under discussion: the election manifesto, delivery notes (which can delve deeper into the policy detail), and Labour’s longer-term vision for government.

H/Advisors Cicero would like thank Samantha Niblett, CEO of Labour: Women in Tech. Find out more about Labour: Women in Tech’s work here: https://labourwomenintech.org/

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February 2024

The H/Advisors Cicero Poll Tracker tracks the average of voting intention polls published each month since January 2023. Looking back at the last 12 months, it is a picture of striking consistency. While Labour’s average rating has dipped a little from an average of 47% in January 2023 to 45% this January, their lead remains strong with the Conservatives also having dipped marginally.

There was relatively little fluctuation across all the main parties, although these UK-wide surveys conceal some interesting changes such as the amount of ground Labour has made up in Scottish polls relative to the SNP. Another notable feature is the gradual improvement of Reform UK’s polling position, beginning this year at an average of 10% having started last year on average of just 6%. We will be updating this polling tracker regularly and monitoring closely for significant movements.

To get in touch email simon.fitzpatrick@h-advisors.global

11 January 2024

There are several knowns and unknowns in politics this year, and Cicero’s 2024 Look Ahead document will help you navigate what to expect in an election year in the UK. This short introduction gives you a snapshot of the sector-specific deep dives the full document makes into Financial Services, Tech, Health and Energy/Net Zero, and the international outlook.

To find out more and receive a copy of our full analysis, please email UKPublicAffairs@h-advisors.global

What do we know?

We know the 2024 General Election campaign will begin this year at the very least. In his New Year address on 4 January, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it’s his “working assumption” that the General Election will take place in the second half of 2024. So, there will be no avoiding the ‘E’ word in 2024.

Regardless of when the General Election takes place, local elections will be on 2 May. This includes Metro Mayoral elections and London Mayoral elections, alongside elections in 36 Metropolitan boroughs, 62 Unitary Authorities, 164 District Councils and the London Assembly. There’s that ‘E’ word again.

We know Parliament’s make-up will change dramatically whoever gets the keys to Number 10. 83 MPs have so far announced they will not stand again at the next General Election – 52 from the Conservatives, 14 from Labour, 9 from the SNP, and 8 others. This is lower than the number of MPs that stood down ahead of the 2015 General Election (90) but is likely to increase as we approach election day.

We know elections taking place across the world this year will have a profound effect on global politics. Over 40 countries will head to the polls in 2024 – including the US, Russia, Ukraine, and India – meaning 1.5 billion people will vote.

What’s still unknown?

The General Election could be held anytime until 28 January 2025, so the 2024 political calendar could be disrupted or remain business as usual. You’ll be pleased to hear the possibility of Party Conferences in September/October and another Autumn Statement remain on the cards.

The Government’s ability to control the legislative agenda remains in the balance. Following the introduction of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill in December 2023, Sunak avoided a major rebellion at Second Reading but will face tougher tests as the Bill progresses in 2024. Its controversial nature means the legislation could change the course of the General Election or further weaken Rishi’s premiership.

And finally, the polls still have time to go either way. Will Labour Leader Keir Starmer be able to keep his poll lead throughout the election campaign to secure an outright majority? Or will the polls narrow if Sunak can put more pennies in voters’ pockets, see flights take off for Rwanda, and cut NHS waiting lists?

These are all matters that businesses and public affairs professionals will need to be prepared to navigate in 2024. Cicero’s fantastic team of consultants will be on hand to do just that. We’ll shortly be launching our General Election website as part of this.

Request your copy of our full 2024 Look Ahead document UKPublicAffairs@h-advisors.global

14 December 2023

With the current Commission’s term coming to an end in 2024, it has never been more important for businesses active in the tech domain to pay close attention to what the next EU political cycle may bring.

In this paper, we examine the next European Commission’s digital priorities may be, looking also at the factors that may shape these priorities, namely geopolitics, personalities, and elections.

Although implementation is expected to be a core activity for policymakers in the next mandate, several digital policy areas such as AI, consumer policy, cybersecurity, and telecoms might see fresh regulatory intervention by the Commission.

To get in touch email alen.hristov@h-advisors.global