Building on our latest research on hope, our latest work looks at the contribution of businesses to the issues the public say they prioritise.  

In the third health and life sciences election blog, we look at how attracting foreign investment could help to support the sector.

Our Hope Index is back for 2024. Click here to read our findings.

The second in our series of health and life sciences blogs leading up to the election looks at barriers to growth in the sector.

The first in our series of health and life sciences blogs leading up to the election looks at driving investment propositions that are compelling and cannot be ignored.

At the mercy of the weather and struggling to make himself heard as he explained his reasoning, the manner of Sunak’s election announcement may yet turn out to be highly fitting for the campaign ahead.

The new practice will support companies across all healthcare corporate affairs requirements and communicate with investor, industry, media and political stakeholders

In 2019, the General Election was described as the first real test of the impact of social media as a way to influence voters, stir up discussion on the main topics and personalities, and spread key moments and mishaps to the digitally literate electorate.

The clock is ticking for Rishi Sunak to give his voters a reason to turn up; and for Sir Keir Starmer to seal the deal by persuading both Conservative waverers to join him and disaffected Tories to stay home.

In 2024, the impact of technology will continue to be felt across the media, both in terms of how people consume their news, but also the impact artificial intelligence could play in creating and checking content.

It feels cliché to say 2024 will be a turning point for the climate. We could say the same of every recent year - and many have. But when there is growing consensus that the planet is running out of time; when increasing extreme weather events have caused death and destruction; when COP28 outcomes were generally seen as not going far enough; and when we’re entering a year of elections and the largest global democratic exercise in decades, 2024 can’t help but feel crucial for the environment.

There are so many ways to describe being a candidate, which makes it hard to give a direct answer to the most asked question I’ve had all year: “What’s it like being a Parliamentary candidate?”. Needless to say, I still haven’t perfected an answer, but I’ll let you in on some of my insights. Being a candidate is amazing. It’s also daunting, weird, stressful, scary and unpredictable. But it’s also a privilege, an honour and one hell of a responsibility.

“To be, or not to be, that is the question”. It’s a question that is as relevant today as it was when Shakespeare wrote it over 420 years ago. After the next General Election, if Labour maintains its poll lead, it’s likely the Conservative Party will reflect on its own future: left, right, or unity?

It’s been a long time since traditional channels alone were enough to effectively reach corporate affairs audiences. The options to engage them and influence their views of companies and their issues have never been greater. Here is a look ahead to 2024.

As uncertainty looms over the timing of the upcoming General Election in 2024, one certainty is the occurrence of a number of local elections scheduled for May 2024.

At the start of 2023, 5654 said this about Keir Starmer’s year ahead:

“Starmer has a difficult balancing act to strike this year. He must set out a detailed policy platform, but not too early that the best ideas are stolen by the Government. He has to look and sound radical to regain lost support in the north of England and Scotland, but he can’t allow himself to be painted as just another big spending Labour politician. And he has to appear credible and competent, but not allow the label of “boring” to become a problem.”

The one thing for certain (other than death and taxes) is that 2024 will not be a year of meaningful growth - whatever politicians promise at the polls.

If elections make democracy, then 2024 will be the most democratic in world history. 70 countries and nearly half the population of the globe will go to the polls in 2024. But does that mean we are at peak-democracy? Hardly.

With growing global instability and a rapidly evolving earned media landscape, 5654 & Company has bolstered its support for clients by hiring former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson and ex-City AM editor Christian May as Senior Counsel.

At exactly 10pm on General Election night 2019, the BBC, ITV and Sky published their shared Exit poll revealing that Boris Johnson had led the Conservatives to their largest majority since Margaret Thatcher in 1987. In contrast, Labour, under Jeremy Corbyn, had won their lowest number of seats since 1935.