A report by the Sheila McKechnie Foundation (SMK) has described 2025 as the “toughest year yet” for campaigning amid growing societal divisions.
Some 69% of civil society campaigners responding to SMK’s annual research said that the environment for campaigning had worsened in the past year – the highest level recorded since the survey began in 2016.
Just 14% of respondents said that things had improved for campaigners, while 17% said that they had seen no change.
Meanwhile, 43% of campaigners said they had felt personally threatened or exposed by their work, due to factors such as online harassment, identity-based targeting, and far-right intimidation.
One in five respondents cited a lack of belief that social change is possible as a major threat, while 15% said that changes in the law were making it harder to campaign.
Some 93% said they wanted to collaborate more, but that a lack of time and money remained the biggest barriers to doing so.
‘Choosing to hope as a deliberate strategy’
Overall, 166 campaigners responded to the survey, three-quarters of whom were paid for their campaigning work, with 79% of this group working for registered charities.
When asked why the campaigning environment had worsened over the past year, SMK said most respondents described a “more polarised” political culture, whereby some feared being physically attacked or facing online harassment.
Legislative changes around protest and policing, an increase in extremist activity and underfunded civil society organisations were also noted by respondents.
Respondents were split on whether the Labour government had improved the campaigning environment since coming to office in 2024.
All respondents said they believed that campaigning by civil society is legitimate, with 98% saying more campaigning will be needed in 2026.
SMK chief executive Katie Roberts said: “Campaigners are facing pressures that would have been unimaginable a decade ago, from rising extremism to shrinking civic space and a deepening sense of public fatigue.
“Yet what stands out in this year’s findings is not despair, but determination. Campaigners are choosing to hope as a deliberate strategy, and they are building it together through collaboration, community and courage.”
