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Policy Exchange is a British conservative think tank based in London. In 2007 it was described in The Daily Telegraph as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right". Policy Exchange is a registered charity; it mostly refuses to disclose the sources of its funding and is ranked as one of the least transparent think tanks in the UK. It was founded in 2002 by the Conservative MPs Francis Maude and Archie Norman, and by Nick Boles, who later also became a Tory MP.
It describes itself as "an independent, non-partisan educational charity whose mission is to develop and promote new policy ideas that will deliver better public services, a stronger society and a more dynamic economy." The Washington Post said Policy Exchange's reports "often inform government policy in Britain" and Iain Dale described it on ConservativeHome as the "pre-eminent think tank in the Westminster village".
The policy ideas developed by the think tank which have been adopted as government policy include free schools, police and crime commissioners, and protecting the Armed Forces from prosecution under human rights laws. Its Judicial Power Project examines the power of the British judiciary and argues that unelected judges have accrued too much power. The significance of Policy Exchange in UK politics remains contentious, primarily due to its alignment with factions on the political right and its utilisation as a political podium.
It describes itself as seeking localist, volunteer and free-market solutions to public policy problems, with research programmes covering Education policy, Energy policy and environment, Britain's place in the world, Economic policy and industrial policy, housing policy, space, counter-terrorism and demography, integration and immigration.
In May 2007, Boles was succeeded as director by Anthony Browne, a journalist and political correspondent for The Times. In September 2008, Browne stepped down to work for Boris Johnson, and was succeeded by Neil O'Brien, formerly director of Open Europe. Neil O'Brien is new director of Policy Exchange ConservativeHome 12 September 2008 In November 2012, O'Brien was appointed as a special adviser to George Osborne, and in 2013 he was succeeded by Dean Godson, formerly head of Policy Exchange's security unit.
In November 2018, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, described Policy Exchange as "multidisciplinary, highly influential, a productive force at the heart of Westminster and our political system." In 2020, Iain Dale described Policy Exchange as "the pre-eminent think tank in the Westminster village". Although associated with the British centre-right, it has also attracts contributors from the political left; contributors have included Labour MPs such as Khalid Mahmood.
In 2019, Marcos González Hernando, a sociologist at the University of Cambridge, summed up its political position and evolution as follows: "Policy Exchange (PX) is a right-of-centre think tank founded in 2002 by Conservative modernisers who believed their party needed to move beyond a strict adherence to Thatcherite ideas. Parallel to the rise of David Cameron, PX became ever more politically connected, while producing policy proposals on areas hitherto relatively neglected by the centre-right (e.g., education, social policy, healthcare). Indeed, the ideas behind the ‘Big Society’ platform were first developed under PX’s aegis. However, the moment of their political ascendancy coincided with the 2008 crisis, after which they became strong supporters of the austerity agenda — if positioning themselves as ‘reasonable’ rather than ideological advocates. As a result, PX expanded its output dramatically on fiscal and financial policy, moving much of their thinking towards the economic right. In the process, PX came to be seen as one of the most politically central British think tanks, the crucible of centre-right thinking, and the ‘policy shop’ of the Cameron premiership."
In 2020 it absorbed Open Europe, a Eurosceptic think tank working on the European Union. In November 2020, it awarded the inaugural Hugo Grotius Prize to Scott Morrison, Australian Prime Minister, "in recognition of his work in support of the international rules based order".
The head of its Britain in the World project was previously Professor John Bew, who left in 2019 to join the Number 10 Policy Unit.
The former Australian PM Kevin Rudd, responding to Stephen Kinnock at a Policy Exchange event at Labour Party Conference in autumn 2020, argued that there is a need to "reset" British foreign policy towards the Indo-Pacific. This idea has been pursued by Policy Exchange in its Indo-Pacific Commission, a project chaired by Stephen Harper, former Canadian PM, and given public support by Shinzo Abe, former Japanese Prime Minister, who argued in a foreword to the Commission's first report: "Britain can work with countries throughout the region on upholding democratic values and supporting the multinational institutions that have developed in recent years. On the security front, the British military, and the Royal Navy in particular, will be a welcome presence in the seas of the Indo-Pacific."
The head of Judicial Power Project is Professor Richard Ekins, Fellow in Law at St John's College, Oxford and Professor of Law and Constitutional Government in the University of Oxford; the Project Website Editor is Professor Graham Gee, Professor of Public Law at the University of Sheffield. Contributors include Patrick Elias, Timothy Endicott, John Finnis, Susan Glazebrook, Stephen Laws, Noel Malcolm, Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, and John Tasioulas.
In September 2017, Andrew Gimson in ConservativeHome wrote that 'Policy Exchange's work on "lawfare", as it came to be known, was the UK equivalent of the Manhattan Institute's "Broken Windows" moment, for it drastically changed the terms of the debate, and led to decisive action to deal with the problem."
In July 2018, the Judicial Power Project published Judicial Power and the Left, a series of essays examining the issue of judicial activism from the left of politics. In the Foreword, Labour MP Jon Cruddas argued, "The retreat towards the law and the continental constitutional separation of powers, and away from democracy and parliamentary sovereignty, have been very powerful tendencies within the left over the past fifty years."
The former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, argued in the foreword to a July 2020 Judicial Power Project paper on reforming the Supreme Court, "There are some who wish this debate to 'go away'. That is not, in my view, a tenable position..." Suella Braverman, the Attorney General for England and Wales, described the Judicial Power Project as "so influential, and so often mentioned in Parliament, both on the left and right. At times it seems that it is the only public defender of constitutional orthodoxy". Another attorney general, Sir Geoffrey Cox, said that "Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project provides an invaluable counterpoint to the expansive liberal constitutionalism that has come to be the prevailing legal orthodoxy of our day." Conversely, Thomas Poole has attacked the Judicial Power Project as "The Executive Power Project", claiming that the JPP's approach owes more to anarcho-conservatism than to constitutional conservatism.
In 2017 ExxonMobil, donated £30,000 to a US based Policy Exchange fundraising arm, and, in November 2022, the funding transparency website Who Funds You? gave Policy Exchange an E grade, the lowest transparency rating (rating goes from A to E).
The Government subsequently announced the establishment of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, an independent body to advise ministers on how to promote and increase the use of high-quality design for new build homes and neighbourhoods. An article in The Economist hailed the policy as the "brainchild of Policy Exchange" and "the biggest idea in housing policy since the sale of council houses under Margaret Thatcher." To feed ideas into the Commission, in January 2019 Policy Exchange also published Building Beautiful, a cross-party essay collection with contributions from politics, architecture and the housebuilding industry, including by the Housing Minister Kit Malthouse MP, Fiona Reynolds, and Jon Cruddas MP.
In a Policy Exchange event on beauty in the built environment and the left, Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan, argued that the building of "grim, grey, massive tower blocks" in the post-war period was proof that the planning authorities had not listened to the concerns of ordinary people.
In covering the report, Con Coughlin of the Daily Telegraph called Policy Exchange "One of London's most effective think tanks, which has done ground-breaking research on the emerging jihadi threat" while William Booth of the Washington Post said that its "reports often inform government policy in Britain".
The report recommended that the government should legislate to define Combat Immunity to allow military personnel to take decisions without having to worry about risk of prosecution, that the MoD should be exempt from the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, for the UK to derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights during deployed operations and for legal aid to be removed from foreign nationals.
In March 2015, an update was published called Clearing the Fog of Law by Tugendhat, Richard Ekins and Jonathan Morgan. This further developed the argument that the expansion of "lawfare" hinders the ability of commanders on the ground to make immediate and potentially life-or-death decisions. Five former Chiefs of the General Staff wrote to the Times on 8 April 2015 to support the recommendations, saying "We urge the government to recognise the primacy of the Geneva Conventions in war by derogating from the European Convention on Human Rights in time of war and redefining combat immunity through legislation to ensure that our serving personnel are able to operate in the field without fear of the laws designed for peacetime environments."
The report examines the history of British intervention overseas and argues that successful examples such as Sierra Leone, Kosovo War and the Gulf War demonstrate the value potential for intervention to succeed. The authors contrasted this with examples of Britain and the wider international community failing to intervene in time to prevent mass atrocities, such as the Rwandan genocide, massacres in Bosnia and most recently the death of hundreds of thousands of people in the Syrian Civil War.
A supportive message from Theresa May was printed on the back cover. The report was launched by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown with Tom Tugendhat and Alison McGovern on 26 January 2017.
In the week following its publication, Theresa May made a speech setting out her proposed approach to Brexit which incorporated many of the ideas set out in 'Clean Brexit', including that she would be prepared to walk away from negotiations if the EU does not offer a good enough deal.
It pushed for greater devolution and enhancement of community and government partnerships. The report was cited as an insight into how Johnson's government plan to strengthen the Union.
Lord Mandelson wrote a foreword to the paper and argued: "Instead of moving Britain forward, with new ideas and utilising the opportunities that digital technology and AI, for example, offer us to transform the economy and public services, a Corbyn-McDonnell government wants to reassert the statist mindset that New Labour disavowed."
Gavin Williamson endorsed the paper in an article in The Times in which he wrote, "Despite the 'snowflake' stereotype, recent polling by the Policy Exchange think tank shows a large number of students want an environment in which they're free to hear a diversity of views. Yet one only needs to look at the worsening situation on US campuses to see the importance of taking action here." He went on to argue that the current situation was so serious that, "if universities don't take action, the government will."
In October 2020, Policy Exchange established a Commission of "heavy-hitters" to examine how the Civil Service could be improved and modernised. The Policy Exchange Reform of Government Commission was composed of Patricia Hodgson (Chair), Hazel Blears, Lockwood Smith, Nick Macpherson, Trevor Phillips, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, General Sir Peter Wall, Lord Caine of Temple Newsam, Nicky Morgan, Ben Houchen, and Rt Hon Lord Hill of Oareford. The Commission heard from a range of expert witnesses, including Mark Sedwill, former Cabinet Secretary; David Blunkett, former Home Secretary; and Francis Maude, former Cabinet Office minister.
The Commission published its final report, entitled Government Reimagined: A Handbook for Reform, in May 2021. The report, which was written by Policy Exchange's Head of Technology Policy, Benjamin Barnard, received widespread media coverage. The report was endorsed by a range of figures including Michael Gove (then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster), Howard Bernstein (former Chief Executive of Manchester City Council), and Dame Sue Owen (former Permanent Secretary at DCMS). In June 2021, the Government set out a Declaration on Government Reform, which echoed the recommendations made in Government Reimagined.
Other speakers include Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, Mark Carney, Dr Andrea Coscelli CBE, S. Jaishankar, Professor William Kovacic, John Larkin QC, General James Mattis, Benjamin Netanyahu, David Petraeus, James Plunkett, Mike Pompeo, Paul Ryan, Malcolm Turnbull and Andrew Tyrie.
In October 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in what was his first appearance at a think tank as Prime Minister, introduced the author Charles Moore at a Policy Exchange event marking the book launch of Moore's Margaret Thatcher: Herself Alone.
In May 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May launched the Augar Report in a keynote speech at Policy Exchange. She appeared with Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, the Education Secretary, and Philip Augar.
In December 2017, in what was the first time two holders of these positions have spoken together in a public forum, Policy Exchange hosted US National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster and his British counterpart, the National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister, Mark Sedwill to discuss The New US National Security Strategy.
In December 2022, Wes Streeting spoke at Policy Exchange in support of a report on increasing medical school places.
In May 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave a speech on security at Policy Exchange, his first major intervention after the 2024 local elections. The speech contained party political messages in preparation for the 2024 United Kingdom general election.
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