John,

As we say good riddance to 2023, I thought, how better than to use my final update of the year to have a look back on a few of the great things we’ve achieved together over the last 12 months. 

Sunak and his Government have certainly made this year one to remember, and for all the wrong reasons, but thanks to supporters like you we’ve made it through to the other side.

With 2024 on the immediate horizon, there’s only one resolution on my list for the new year: to get rid of this Government. So if you haven’t already, do sign up to alerts and donate to our GetVoting campaign if you can, to help us make this a reality.  

Enjoy. 

Fixing the Brexit Deal

The Conservative Party may trail in the polls but their shambolic Brexit deal will continue to cause major problems long after they’ve been kicked out of office. Original B4B research this year helped uncover the scale of damage, while  evidence heard by our cross-party commission of business leaders and MPs detailed even more.

• 32% fall in UK musicians playing festivals in the EU
• Half of UK fintech ‘unicorns’ announcing large-scale layoffs more than double the proportion in the EU doing the same
• Rise in cost of construction in Britain double that seen in EU countries

The work continues

For all this success the UKTBC did not rest on their laurels. We continued to take evidence not only on the effect of the Brexit deal but the impact of new trade deals and further divergence from our largest market with a total of 13 evidence sessions in 2023 and two site visits to major UK industries. The Commission’s work will continue after a pause for the upcoming election year.

Doing what's Best for Britain

In parallel, we’ve worked hard this year to prevent the Government from causing any more harm than they have already through Brexit.

Sinking the NI Protocol Bill

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill would have seen the UK break international law, unleash economic chaos in Britain and undermine the Good Friday Agreement.

Our work to coordinate opposition to the bill in the House of Lords saw Rishi Sunak resile from the lunatic scheme in early 2023, and work constructively with the EU to resolve some of the outstanding issues resulting in the Windsor Framework.

We also organised some positive reinforcement for this more responsible approach, coordinating scores of business leaders to back the plan.

Defending democratic rights

Last year Best for Britain campaigned against the Elections Act, getting some of its more horrible parts removed, but in 2023 we saw the impact of introducing new and unnecessary voter ID rules seemingly designed to disenfranchise opposition voters. At Best for Britain we strived both to make people aware of the new rules and to pressure the Government to address the issues they created. With the help of supporters like you John, we got a response from the Government and will continue our campaign to see the forms of acceptable ID expanded.

Opposing other horrible stuff

This year, we also campaigned against the Government's Retained EU Law Act, which in Spring was revised to reduce the amount of standards scrapped and remove the dangerous sunset clause. We continue to oppose the Government’s unworkable and unconscionable new immigration and asylum policies, arguing for both the benefits of immigration and the UK’s responsibility to protect international agreements. Best for Britain’s Scandalous Spending Tracker uncovered a staggering £100 billion of Tory waste making headlines and causing the Chancellor discomfort.

Fighting Farage

And it’s not just the Government, we’re fighting populists and nativists wherever they pop up. More than 5,000 B4B supporters wrote to Ant and Dec directly to register their opposition to Nigel Farage’s booking on I’m a Celeb this year leading to the two presenters promising no more politicians after the show lost millions of viewers. We’ve warned about the risks of his reentry into the Tory party and the danger he poses at the next General Election. Speaking of which…

Winning the next General Election

We can only do so much with this government in power which is why in 2024, we are totally focussed on winning the next General Election. B4B will help people who want to vote for change overcome our broken electoral system by launching the most powerful tactical voting operation the UK has ever seen at getvoting.org, building on B4B’s reputation as experts in polling which we enhanced throughout 2023.

The Wavering Wall

B4B kicked off 2023 with a landmark report on the high number of undecided voters and the pivotal role they could play at the next election. The analysis secured extensive coverage in the New Year's Day edition of the Sunday Times and beyond. 

By Elections

Throughout 2023, B4B paid close attention to the many (and I mean many)  by-elections and what can be learned for the General Election. Despite fantastic wins for Labour and the Lib Dems this year, with Reform UK holding the balance in the most recent contests, and with opposition parties unable to throw the kitchen sink at every constituency as the do in a by-election, it was once again proven how important tactical voting operations like getvoting.org will be.

Can't wait, won't wait

Our Can’t Wait campaign, which highlights the real and damaging impact of our broken electoral system, has enjoyed major success in convincing opposition party members to back electoral reform, reaching 7 million people since it was launched.

And to all of our supporters...

None of this would be possible without people like you John.

To all of you who…

• Donated to our cause
• Bought from our shop
• Planted a tree in our forest
• Signed our petitions
• Contacted MPs
• Wrote to local papers 
• Subscribed to our emails
• Shared our content

…we want to say a massive thank you!

We hope you have a happy and restful break. Here’s to an exhausting and hopefully triumphant 2024!

Best,


Naomi