Climate advocacy in the ‘Red Wall’: Loyal Nationals and fairness

(Disclaimer: Loyal Nationals are slightly more likely to be found in the North than the South, but not all Red Wall constituents are Loyal Nationals, and vice versa. Indeed the ‘Red Wall’ is not a term Climate Outreach often uses precisely because we focus on understanding how people see the world and themselves as citizens, rather than reducing them to the political constituency in which they live). 

Webinar recording: dos and don’ts for UK climate advocates

Loyal Nationals represent many millions of people who have not been deliberately brought into the climate conversation by and with activist-dominated NGOs. But they are politically engaged: they vote in large numbers, and they care about politics a great deal.  If the next election is to be a climate election in practice, then work on a better story has to start now. 

The good news is that many of the climate advocacy groups we work with in our Climate Engagement Lab are keen to better engage Loyal Nationals. This is not (just) because of their near-term electoral and political significance, which is encouraging. Viewing any broad group of people as simply instrumental to campaign wins is, in a disillusioned age, part of the problem. Rather there is a growing agreement that the deep and wide social mandate needed for climate action is dependent on bringing many more people (from across society) into the climate conversation, as Climate Outreach has long argued. This is great to see and it matters now like it never has before, as the distrust Loyal Nationals and related segments feel for elites is at risk of being weaponised by opponents of net zero. 

There are some significant challenges for nationally-based campaign groups to overcome. A core one is that while Loyal Nationals are supportive of climate action in the abstract, they are turned off by slogans and narratives that feel distant, technical or elitist. ‘Environmental charities’ are the third most trusted messenger to talk about climate change itself, but that masks considerable hostility to the tactics of activists, and the perceived hypocrisy of environmentalists. The implication is that Loyal Nationals trust environmental groups to be right about the importance of climate change – but not necessarily on what should be done about it, nor that it’ll be fair for them and in their interests. 

This makes sense for an audience that feels distant from elite level political change and which overwhelmingly voted to leave the EU. This mindset is distinct from that of many Progressive Activists, and bridging it requires empathy and an understanding of the distrust many people in the UK have for politicians and political processes. Simply asking audiences like Loyal Nationals to ‘write to their MP’, for example, won’t work: most don’t see the point. But different types of ‘action’ – starting with how to help people make a concrete improvement to where they live and for the communities they live within – is more likely to be well received, particularly if championed by locally trusted groups or messengers. 

There is also more common cause around what ‘fairness’ means in climate policy than might immediately seem to be the case. Loyal Nationals have strong fairness concerns – more accurately, ‘unfairness’ concerns – particularly as this plays out where they live. As explored in an April 2022 update to the Britain Talks Climate research and toolkit, Loyal Nationals and Progressive Activists both believe that those with the least ability to pay should not have to bear any costs of net zero policy, and that grants for measures like home insulation should mainly go to those who most need them. There are other unifying frames, such as intergenerational fairness, the importance of protecting nature, and – if it’s thought to be believable, tangible and obtainable in practice – the benefits to communities from ‘green jobs’ and financial savings as a result of, for example, using less energy. Our new guide for advocates on how to navigate ‘fairness’ in climate engagement digs deeper into this. 

Climate campaign groups can and must better engage Loyal Nationals in the climate story. A good place to start, as we explore in our new guide, is starting all campaigning and engagement planning with a good hard look at the issue of ‘fairness’ and how it’ll be truly received by non-activist audiences. It’s not necessarily easy – it includes changing the language and frames used in communications – and genuinely empathetic engagement and connection might also mean rethinking existing models of activism, as well as forging new partnerships rooted authentically within communities around the country. But it’s important. Over the coming months and years, the Climate Engagement Lab will be supporting and championing the work of organisations that are willing to give it a go. 

For campaigning and advocacy organisations in the UK serious about building narratives and engagement plans to reach Loyal National audiences, the Climate Engagement Lab is holding a free online training and strategy workshop on Wednesday 15 June 2022. This practical session will help attendees develop their own strategy for better engaging Loyal Nationals with narratives around fairness. It is particularly appropriate for groups that may have Loyal Nationals in its supporter base, or that are planning to to actively engage them in the coming months. Spaces are limited. We are also hosting a webinar open to all on Thursday 9 June to share key findings from the report below, ‘Fairness in UK climate advocacy: a user’s guide’.