The Hope Reset: Why we’re choosing optimism for 2026 – and how you can too

Political disillusionment and social apathy are two sides of the same coin. But we can push back.

Ella reporting from her hometown of St Helens last year. Pic: The Lead

When The Lead sent Ella Glover to speak to Red Wall voters in 2023, the aim was to understand how they really felt about immigration – but her reporting uncovered something else. An undercurrent of disillusionment seeped through her conversations with everyone from young professionals in Oldham to middle-aged dads in Blackpool.

After weeks traipsing through northern towns, she was left with the unsettling and resolute understanding that the biggest threat to British politics was not one single policy issue, but a snaking sense of political apathy.

Two years later, reporting in St Helens, she was confronted with the consequences. Typically a Labour stronghold, her hometown has been projected to switch to Reform in 2029; a direct result of disillusionment with a political system that has consistently let residents down. But for everyone who told The Lead they would vote for Reform, there was someone else who said they wouldn’t vote at all. Last year’s election saw the lowest voter turnout since universal suffrage. Apathy becomes a practice: active disengagement from the news, from voting, from activism.

There are valid reasons for disengaging. The sleaze and scandal of the Conservative Party throughout the Brexit years and during the pandemic, plus the perception that the Labour Party – which ran on a promise of change – is, if not the same, then worse, is causing people to feel disenchanted with democracy as a whole. Combine this with a fractured media landscape with people being funnelled into evermore extreme silos, and environmental and geopolitical struggles that can feel both remote and terrifying. Not to mention the persistence of converging, closer-to-home crises – from rising unemployment, to a housing shortage, to the untenable cost of living.

It’s no wonder we feel hopeless. And this hopelessness is impacting how we live. Political disillusionment and social apathy are two sides of the same coin. The political always bleeds into the personal. Research by More in Common found that those who were less satisfied with their personal lives (finances, love lives, work) were more likely to vote for fringe parties like Reform and the Greens. From giving up on relationships and deciding not to start families, to engaging with extreme ideologies and taking bigger risks politically, the two cannot be separated.

That’s why hope is more important than ever. Rather than sinking into the futile abyss of ‘nothing can be done’, it’s time to start thinking outside the box, aiming smaller, zooming in. Our upcoming series, The Hope Reset, is about exactly this. The different, small ways individuals, groups and local communities can make real, positive changes with tangible results.

The Hope Reset will deep dive into the specific areas of public life where energy has dwindled: political participation, climate activism, relationships and parenting. We won’t just identify the problems, we will also look at how they might be solved – not with vague political policies, but by real people, because cutting through the apathy of our times starts with you.

We’ll start this Saturday with a look at how taking a ‘smaller picture’ approach to politics can stave off disillusionment. Then, throughout the rest of the month, we’ll explore the organisations making parenthood more enjoyable and sustainable, the groups shaping a new and safer dating culture, and innovative ways to reengage with climate activism.

From starting a union to supporting grieving mothers; embracing in-person dating to joining a direct action group, these are stories of people taking matters into their own hands – to show how you can, too. They are stories of empowerment, connection and, most importantly, hope.■

About the authors: Ella Glover is a freelance journalist specialising in worker's rights, housing, health, harm reduction and lifestyle. You can find her work in Prospect Magazine, Dazed, Observer Magazine, Women’s Health and - most importantly - here at The Lead.

Natalie Morris is our National Editor here at The Lead. Elsewhere, she is a freelance writer, author, journalist and host covering social justice, inequality, health and community, writing in the Guardian, the Independent, Metro, Grazia, Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and more.

If hope is your vibe for 2026, become a paid subscriber to The Lead so you don’t miss any of our upcoming features and podcast episodes. The Hope Reset is our January series that aims to help you start the year on an optimistic note. Ditch the doom-scrolling and tap into something hopeful instead. Cutting through the apathy of our times starts with you. Thank you for reading.

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Also from The Lead this week, we continue our watchful gaze on Reform and what they’ve been up to in recent weeks with the latest edition of ReformWatch

Our award-winning reporting from the North of England continued throughout the Christmas period and started the New Year with Leigh returning to one of his favourite topics, Teesworks.

And looking for some reading material to get January started? Our latest edition of The Lead Digest shares what are editors are reading right now.

We’ll be back in your inbox on Friday with the latest edition of The Lead Untangles, where we dig into the issues affecting the UK and the world right now - or that are flying under the radar and need explaining. Make sure you’re subscribed to receive it direct and first.