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Welcome to The Best for Britain Wire’s Under the Radar round up. And a belated Happy New Year!
We’re three days into 2026 and, in place of your usual Weekend Wire, we wanted to take this opportunity to share a few more of our favourite pieces from 2025, which you might have missed. [But never fear, Weekend Wire will be back next Saturday.]
A huge thank you again to all our Substack writers, readers and commenters who’ve taken the time to support us in 2025.
Please do let us know what you’d like to see more of on The Best for Britain Wire in 2026 - or consider supporting our work with a paid subscription?
Read on for more!
Project 2029
One of the first pieces we shared on The Best for Britain Wire was this look ahead to what a possible Reform government could have planned - aka Project 2029 - by our editor Niall McGourty.
It’s not exactly a comfort read, but well worth a reminder as we head into the new year and May’s local elections are ever-closer.
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Progressives and PR
Read that? Great. If you’re now wondering what we can do about all this, let me point you to two great pieces by two fantastic guest authors.
Firstly, by 38 Degrees CEO Matthew McGregor, on why Reform are the “next ‘change’ cab off the rank” and what Labour need to do to win back the progressive voters and “keep populists out of No10”.
Next up, the chief executive of Make Votes Matter, Emma Harrison, shared this deep dive into first past the post - that “Victorian invention… electoral relic propped up by tactical voting” - and why a proportional voting system could offer us so much more.
“As a campaigner for electoral reform, the worry I hear most is that “PR will let the bad guys in…” But the evidence shows the opposite: multi-party politics gives voters a voice, making extremism less attractive. It brings anger out into the open and turns it into representation, not resentment.” - Emma Harrison
Time’s up for our voting system but who will be brave enough to change it? | ||||||
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‘Extremism is best contained by giving voters genuine representation. Trust in politics will only be rebuilt when every vote carries equal weight.’ - Emma Harrison, Chief Executive of Make Votes Matter | ||||||
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Say Yes to a YES
At Best for Britain, we’ve been campaigning long and hard for the creation of a new UK-EU youth mobility scheme - or youth experience scheme (YES) as its now known.
With the recent news that the UK is set to rejoin the Erasmus+ scheme, why not revisit policy officer Ayesha Chaudry’s excellent Substack piece on how “Brexit reshaped our futures without our consent”.
She eloquently argues that a YES is a “a sign to young people that our futures still matter, and that the world is not closing in on us, but opening back up”.
Brexit took from our future, this could give something back | ||||||
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‘A youth experience scheme won’t undo every consequence of Brexit. But it’s a step in the right direction and would be a sign to young people that our futures still matter’ | ||||||
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A dose of reality
Finally, I wanted to share with you my favourite piece that I wrote for The Best for Britain Wire this year.
As an avid viewer of reality TV (for socio-political research, of course), and coming from a family full of teachers, I had some thoughts - and feelings - about the latest, powerful series of Educating Yorkshire, and how the UK’s kids should be far more of a priority for policymakers.
If you’re looking for something entertaining and inspirational to fill the dark January evenings, I highly recommend giving it a watch.
“The show also makes plain the distance between the kids of Thornhill Academy and those making policy choices in Westminster. A gulf of miles - and imagination. It’s not just the legacy of Covid which has left the UK’s kids at the sharp end.” - Jessica Frank-Keyes
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Thanks for reading. Normal service resumes next week! Until then, take care.
Jessica Frank-Keyes
Senior Press Officer
Best for Britain
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