nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb
@nickplumb.bsky.social
3.1K followers 800 following 560 posts
Director of Policy and Insight at @powertochange.org.uk Interests include: UK politics, trust, communities, localism, democratic reform, and inequality.
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · Jun 2
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New research from @powertochange.org.uk revisits the 100 places in England with the sharpest rise in long-term high street vacancies between 2015 and 2023.

Inspired by work from @trfetzer.com, @jacobedenhofer.bsky.social and @prashantgarg.bsky.social
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Reposted by Nick Plumb
powertochange.org.uk
Power to Change @powertochange.org.uk · 5d
💭 We're reflecting on a busy #LabourConference 2025, where the power of community, and the importance of growth that everyone can see and feel, were central themes.

Here are our 5 key highlights: #Lab25
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Reposted by Nick Plumb
nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 6d
Tech as social infrastructure.

Delighted to have @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social writing for us. She challenges the orthodoxy that social media platforms are bad for community power.

(Though I'm sure @dmk1793.bsky.social would point out that there are fewer algorithms involved in these examples.)
Modern community empowerment and social infrastructure building starts in Facebook groups, Signal and WhatsApp groups, Discord and Slack communities that fill the gap left by community centres, coffee mornings, and jumble sales. As documented in comedian Jayde Adams’ hilarious podcast, Welcome to the Neighbourhood, these groups include all kinds of life and opinions, from the extremely heartwarming to the extraordinarily petty and irritating, and have taken the place of all kinds of physical infrastructure, from noticeboards to street corners. Behind every local football team or running group or community garden there’s a WhatsApp conversation where real-world plans are made. In my South London neighbourhood, local forums are the places that get people along to community markets, fill empty shops, and unite people with nothing in common save their adoration of an adventurous local cat. They power an economy of favours, freecycling and recommendations – while also being home to plenty of moaning and challenging conversations about everything from ULEZ to flags. These forums are far from perfect – and there is another essay to be written about the economic and social impacts of Meta’s de facto monopoly on informal public communication channels – but they are places where people gather that are totally neglected in social policy. Local communities that band together to buy their local pub do so not only through meeting in person but via WhatsApp chats and crowdfunding websites. Empowering more communities does not need to be restricted to brick and mortar assets, it can start with active advocacy in these digital communities, and in creating opportunities that are accessible and realisable to people who want to do more than just chat on their phones but just don’t know how.
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Reposted by Nick Plumb
rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social
Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 6d
New essay for the @powertochange.org.uk 10th anniversary.

The digital society has been around for decades, but digital social policy is still non-existent. Tech policy can't just pick corporate winners, it should also invest in communities and places

www.powertochange.org.uk/evidence-and...
Industry, innovation, and technology are positioned in cross-government policy as taking place in parallel, almost on another plane to neighbourhoods and communities, even though access to good work and prosperity are foundational properties of good places to live, and communities are more likely to be formed on a smartphone than in a community centre.
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 6d
Full essay here 👇👇
The digital disconnect: taking digital social policy seriously - Power to Change
In our next essay, Rachel Coldicott, explores the urgent need for a community-centred approach to technology policy in the UK. From WhatsApp-powered communi ...
www.powertochange.org.uk
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 6d
Tech as social infrastructure.

Delighted to have @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social writing for us. She challenges the orthodoxy that social media platforms are bad for community power.

(Though I'm sure @dmk1793.bsky.social would point out that there are fewer algorithms involved in these examples.)
Modern community empowerment and social infrastructure building starts in Facebook groups, Signal and WhatsApp groups, Discord and Slack communities that fill the gap left by community centres, coffee mornings, and jumble sales. As documented in comedian Jayde Adams’ hilarious podcast, Welcome to the Neighbourhood, these groups include all kinds of life and opinions, from the extremely heartwarming to the extraordinarily petty and irritating, and have taken the place of all kinds of physical infrastructure, from noticeboards to street corners. Behind every local football team or running group or community garden there’s a WhatsApp conversation where real-world plans are made. In my South London neighbourhood, local forums are the places that get people along to community markets, fill empty shops, and unite people with nothing in common save their adoration of an adventurous local cat. They power an economy of favours, freecycling and recommendations – while also being home to plenty of moaning and challenging conversations about everything from ULEZ to flags. These forums are far from perfect – and there is another essay to be written about the economic and social impacts of Meta’s de facto monopoly on informal public communication channels – but they are places where people gather that are totally neglected in social policy. Local communities that band together to buy their local pub do so not only through meeting in person but via WhatsApp chats and crowdfunding websites. Empowering more communities does not need to be restricted to brick and mortar assets, it can start with active advocacy in these digital communities, and in creating opportunities that are accessible and realisable to people who want to do more than just chat on their phones but just don’t know how.
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Reposted by Nick Plumb
right-here.org
We're Right Here @right-here.org · 7d
The publication was created with @uclpolicylab.bsky.social and @powertochange.org.uk to bring together voices from our campaign alongside leading Labour politicians and thinkers.

👉 Read Kirsty McNeil’s essay and the full collection: www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/s...

🧵 2/2 #CommunityPoweredPolitics
www.ucl.ac.uk
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Reposted by Nick Plumb
right-here.org
We're Right Here @right-here.org · 7d
Our new essay collection explores Labour’s relationship to the politics of community.

In her essay, MP @kirstymcneill.bsky.social writes:
“long-term, relational, power-building work should be our guide as we navigate the 2nd year of this still-young Labour government.”

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Bright yellow essay collection front cover. "Britain Renewed: Labour and the Communitarian Tradition"
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Reposted by Nick Plumb
dmk1793.bsky.social
David Klemperer @dmk1793.bsky.social · 9d
Pleased to see @sundersays.bsky.social highlight the new @uclpolicylab.bsky.social essay collection on Labour and communitarianism in his response to the anonymous screed being circulated of late amongst Labour MPs
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 9d
I'm a late addition to this event.

Looking forward to it, alongside stellar fellow panellists.
neweconomics.bsky.social
New Economics Foundation @neweconomics.bsky.social · 12d
Are you heading to #LabourConference in Liverpool?

Interested in reclaiming our regions, and how can mayors resist the rise of the far right?

Join our RORE fringe event👇

🕑 Mon 29 Sept, 2-2:45pm
📍 Exhibition Event Hub, ECL

neweconomics.org/2025/09/nef-...
Reclaiming our regions: How can mayors resist the rise of the far right? Mon 29 Sept, 2-2:45pm Exhibition Event Hub, ECL
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 9d
"A huge range of everyday issues were mentioned, from new public toilets in Wythenshawe, increased litter-picking in Gorton, and additional benches in Pendleton. But what people most want are places they can connect with others."

Great reporting from @manchestereveningnews.co.uk
We spoke to 42 people in 19 areas getting £20m - this is how they'd spend it
The government's new initiative gives £20m over 10 years to 19 areas in Greater Manchester - and voters decide how to spend it
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 9d
Read the full briefing here 👇👇
Returning power to the people: What community empowerment can do for the public and for politics - Power to Change
At a time when the government faces enormous pressure to mount a response to the sense of discontent and decline that the public is feeling, giving communit ...
www.powertochange.org.uk
nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 9d
There is political risk for the government, if the delivery of the programme doesn't match the rhetoric.

Starmer did the rounds on local radio stations last week to sell the programme - places' expectations have been raised, so now is the time to meet the moment with genuine community control.
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 9d
As polling for @right-here.org has shown, people want a say over how government money is spent.

They would even accept *less money* being spent in their area, if they were given more control.

The Pride in Place agenda is talking a good game on community control...
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 9d
Labour's more community-led policies - community right to buy, the expansion of community energy and the Pride in Place programme (the re-named, expanded and evolved Plan for Neighbourhoods) - are popular.

But they haven't cut through with the public.
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 9d
People feel more positive about the state of their local area than the state of the country.

A politics which leans into community, and people's sense of place, can tap into this optimism.

@luketryl.bsky.social @moreincommonuk.bsky.social
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 9d
Our new @powertochange.org.uk research briefing - Returning Power to the People - was published last week.

Three charts which should shape debates on Pride in Place this Labour conference.
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 9d
Award-winning pies, drinks and community-led growth.

Join us later at the community-owned Baltic Creative.
powertochange.org.uk
Power to Change @powertochange.org.uk · 9d
📣Join us today at #LabourConference to burst the conference bubble & explore how to achieve the kind of growth that reaches into everyday life in every community.
🥧Sign up: buff.ly/0oYQG6i
👋Meet the community businesses: buff.ly/TIJ0uzj
nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 9d
Run down Hope Street - a lovely way to start the day.

Fitting given our @powertochange.org.uk @hopenothate.org.uk @coopparty.party.coop event later - Holding onto Hope - with @kirstymcneill.bsky.social @roswynnejones.bsky.social

4pm, ACC meeting room 12
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 10d
ICYMI yesterday, we also published a collection of essays exploring similar terrain - communitrianism within Labour.

As David outlines here.
dmk1793.bsky.social
David Klemperer @dmk1793.bsky.social · 10d
I was delighted to contribute to this excellent @uclpolicylab.bsky.social & @powertochange.org.uk essay collection on “Labour and the communitarian tradition”, alongside @ewallis.bsky.social, @mds49.bsky.social, @caitprowle.bsky.social, @kirstymcneill.bsky.social & @andyburnham.bsky.social
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Reposted by Nick Plumb
dmk1793.bsky.social
David Klemperer @dmk1793.bsky.social · 10d
I was delighted to contribute to this excellent @uclpolicylab.bsky.social & @powertochange.org.uk essay collection on “Labour and the communitarian tradition”, alongside @ewallis.bsky.social, @mds49.bsky.social, @caitprowle.bsky.social, @kirstymcneill.bsky.social & @andyburnham.bsky.social
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 10d
@kirstymcneill.bsky.social - bangs the drum for Pride in Place announcements, arguing that they are a radical new form of statecraft.

And sets out a really clear view of how difficult working relationally is, but also how rewarding and meaningful it is.
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 10d
Frances Foley defends the pluralism of Blue Labour. While also arguing that there is a broader "democratic communitarianism" which appeals to people across the Labour tradition, within and beyond Blue Labour.
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 10d
2. It doesn't recognise the loss and pain that communities are feeling. (Kirsty talks about a declining social club in Hamilton).

She says that BL focuses on lamentation of the past without the cooperative principles of self help to rebuild power together.
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 10d
Kirsty bangs drum for the co-operative movement. Says that is the foundation of Blue Labour.

She says Blue Labour diverts from this tradition in two ways.

1. It focuses on common identity (in a narrow way), not on community interests, and common vision for the country.
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nickplumb.bsky.social
Nick Plumb @nickplumb.bsky.social · 10d
@joshsimonsmp.bsky.social argues that communitarianism is experiencing a bit of a revival.

Says it is manifesting itself in two ways: policy and practice.

Alluded to the idea that recently announced Pride in Place funding can and should be held by local community orgs.
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