About
“Democracy may not exist, but we’ll miss it when it’s gone.”
Astra Taylor, author, filmmaker, activist, and musician
Our House is building a people-powered movement for political systems change. We are a collective of participatory democracy practitioners, community organisers and storytellers who bring together diverse experiences and practices of doing democracy differently. Our House was initiated on the belief that we can’t protect a political system that isn’t working; we have to build something better.
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. Demands for political systems change will then be co-written into a new People’s Charter for each of the four nations of the UK.
Our Aims
By seeing and experiencing the possibilities of people-power, from citizens' assemblies to legislative theatre, people are imagining and building a better, more just democracy. Starting locally, we are forming a distributed network of local leaders for political systems change, embedded and connected in our communities, and advocating for their People’s Charter through thousands of conversations across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Our work is focused on our three aims, to:
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.
Amplify and shift the narrative 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 see the Charter as a credible demand for a new democracy.
Champion 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.
Why Now?
Democracy is under threat. As mainstream parties fail to respond to the growing crises we face, political extremists are filling the void, offering easy solutions to complex problems in exchange for absolute power.
In 2029, the UK is on track to be led by a politically extreme party for the first time in its history. This isn’t just caused by rising inequality and falling living standards, people have experienced that the way society works isn’t fair. More than half the population believe our political system needs significant change, and in the 2024 election, 19 million people chose not to vote. With rising apathy and discontent, the system that has maintained the status quo and centralised power for decades will be the very system that leads to its destruction.
Political systems change is now inevitable. But given that only 12% of the population trust political parties and 70% trust most people, how can we shape a democracy that gives ordinary people real power?
Our Plan
local people's charters
People's Charters in the four nations
the democracy we want
Gather phase, March 2025-2026
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.
After an initial period of piloting, we are expanding the Gather Phase from September to March 2026:
- Connect a diverse network of communities across the four nations to build local People’s Charters for political systems change.
- Facilitate and support the distributed network of local leaders to grow skills in participatory democracy and build the movement in their communities.
- Spread the story of charter writing and the collective narrative for people power through traditional and new media.
- Convene a non-partisan alliance of those closest to power to respond to and support the local communities.
At the end of the Gather phase, we will have an active network of communities, each with its own Local People’s Charters for political systems change, which could look like:
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.
By 4 July 2026, the second anniversary of the general election, we will celebrate the national People’s Charter for each of the UK's four nations. We will:
- Convene an assembly of assemblies, bringing together local chartists and other experts with people selected by lottery (or sortition).
- Facilitate diverse conversations and creative events on the future of democracy and how to build people power.
- Amplifying and shifting the narrative of the possibilities of people power.
- Facilitate an alliance of politicians and civil society leaders to champion the demands for political system change in Holyrood, Westminster, the Senedd and Stormont.
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.
- A distributed network of local festivals and street parties will celebrate the People’s Charter and build momentum towards the political systems change people want to see both locally and nationally.
- Existing campaign groups will continue to advocate for the demands of the People’s Charters, bolstered by a wave of public and political support.
- The active and growing network of local communities with People’s Charters will demonstrate the democracy we need today, making active commitments to how decisions are made on collective action projects locally. This will form the basis for democratic resilience in times of uncertainty, spreading the experience of hope for a better society.