2022 is now over – and what a year it’s been.
Party-gate. The Sue Gray report. UK sanctions on Russian Oligarchs and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. The subsequent rehoming of Ukrainian families around the world. By-elections losing blue seats for the first time in decades.
Boris getting the boot. Liz Truss’ disastrous mini budget followed by one giant U-turn straight out of Westminster. The lettuce! Matt Hancock in the jungle. Inflation and fuel poverty. Strikes, strikes and more strikes…
As a petition platform, the days leading into 2023 are a rare moment for us to pause and reflect on what’s worked, which of the campaigns we supported made the most impact, and a moment for us to choose our own direction for the coming year.
So we thought it might be high time to review what proved to be a disastrous year for many and issue a survey to our users to find out what you are most concerned about for 2023.
And this is what you told us:
While 17% of our users voted Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum, only 9.6% would vote Leave again. Questioned on why, the responses are mixed – from concerns about the economy, autonomy, trade deal prospects, the NHS and more. One trend remained consistent, quite a lot of our users felt they’d been lied to, from across the political spectrum.
Our users think climate change is the most important issue facing the country right now. When asked, 69% of users mentioned climate change as one of the three most important issues facing the country, more than any other issue. Behind climate change, 63% mentioned the cost of living crisis, and 55% mentioned inequality and 53% mentioned social care as the greatest issue. On the other end of the spectrum, only 12% mentioned immigration, and just 5.9% mentioned national security as one of their leading concerns.
But while the issues facing the country are arguably more important and stark than ever in living memory, the rate of activism and engagement in these serious issues is also on the rise, which is encouraging.
To show support for a cause, most of our users want to sign more petitions. When asked about what you would like to do over the coming year to support or alleviate these difficult issues, the most common way you would like to show your support for causes is to sign petitions (with a whopping 94% of users mentioning this – but as a petition platform, you could say our data is skewed!)
You also want to buy more ethical goods, give money and convince others you know to act. Many of our users intend to buy more ethical goods and services to support important causes (58% mentioning this), give money to important causes (56% mentioning this) and try to convince the people they know to do something about it (52% mentioning this). On the other end of the spectrum, only 16% are looking to make ethical investments and only 7% intend to start their own project to support the cause.
A massive thank you to everyone who responded. We read all comments and take our role as a campaigning platform very seriously. We’re delighted to be able to find and support campaigners of all shapes and sizes to help them achieve the impact they’d like to make.
And in the months to come, we’re looking forward to bringing you more climate emergency and cost of living crisis campaigns.
