Our House

Our House is building a people-powered movement for political systems change. 

The movement is bringing people together through a distributed, creative process to imagine a country that works for everyone, and the democracy we need to get there. We will set out our demands for political systems change into a new People’s Charter for each of the four nations of the UK. Our work is focused on our three goals:

1. Build and connect the people-power movement through a wave of local People’s Charters. Using participatory democracy tools, people will see and experience new ways of doing democracy to create demands for local People’s Charters in more than 50 communities. Each community will demonstrate the change they want to see in their local areas and come together to create an overarching People’s Charter for each of the four nations of the UK. 
2. Amplify and shift the narrative on people power through public storytelling. News of the People's Charters and the participatory process will ripple through traditional and independent media. Through collective imagination, story-writing and -telling, people will shift the narrative on how power and politics work today, and see the Charter as a credible demand for a new democracy. 
3. Champion systems change through an alliance of those closest to power. Our House does not align with a political party or theory, we’re creating a people-powered democracy that works for everyone, from the outside, but not in opposition. Politics isn’t working, even for those closest to power, so we’ll build an alliance of in-system champions, from local to national politicians and civil society leaders, who can bridge from the democracy we have to the one we need. 

Those outside of power have used People’s Charters to drive political systems change in Britain for centuries. From the chartists of the 1800s to Charter 88, a perceivably immovable political system has devolved and distributed power by building popular movements and stories for a different future. In the face of political extremism, a dysfunctional electoral system, and widespread apathy, a new People’s Charter would set out tangible demands for change that inspire, connect and mobilise a people-powered movement across the four nations. 

Chartists required both the clarity of message and the effectiveness of storytelling to capture the imagination of people facing collapse to hope for something better. In 1842, three and a half million people signed the People’s Charter. Hear from one of our local leaders, Billy Dasein, about the need for a new movement for a better way of doing democracy, one that values everyone’s voice, one that is shaped by and for the people.

The People’s Charter will set out:

• Values -
• What does a country that works for all of us look like?
• What are the underlying values that this future represents?
• Demands -
• What would a democratic system that embodies these values look like?
• What are our specific demands for political systems change?

Our House launched its pilot phase in March 2025. We will be sharing the details of the next 18 months soon, with a brief overview below: 

• Gather phase, March 2025 – March 2026. We will convene a network of more than 50 local people’s charters across the four nations that will set out demands for political systems change. 
• Develop, April – July 2026. We will convene an assembly of assemblies in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to create national People’s Charters for political systems change. 
• Demonstrate, July – December 2026. We will celebrate the People’s Charters through a network of festivals, campaigns and experiences with artists and creatives bringing the future democracy we need to life. 
  

In a time of crisis and collapse, we need a democratic system that enables good ideas to thrive. One that enables people to work together and overcome their differences. But our current political system was designed to maintain the status quo and exaggerate division. Whether a citizen or politician, everyone struggles to create meaningful change in this system. And there are no easy choices on the road ahead of us, so we need a democracy that allows us to shape the country we want for our future.

It’s clear that our Victorian political system is no longer working, but is voting every five years the best we can do? The new government has committed to explore political reform, so now is the time to build a movement towards a new democratic system. One that is citizen-led. One that is incorruptible. One that connects us all.

Now is the time to build a new democracy: to build Our House.