What does the UK public really think about shifting power?

When Shifting the Power asked the UK public who should lead international development, the answers suggested that genuine localisation is not only possible, but desirable, writes Ayesha Farah, Senior Comms and Advocacy Manager at Comic Relief.

Here’s an uncomfortable question for anyone who works in this sector: what if the biggest barrier to changing how we tell stories about development was never the public, but us? Our comfort with a formula we knew was tired but kept reaching for anyway because it had always worked, or because we told ourselves it worked.

Back in 2023, we commissioned some research to test that discomfort properly. Working with the Development Engagement Lab at UCL and the University of Birmingham, we asked what the British public thinks about who should lead international development: a mix of qualitative and quantitative research drawing on a wide range of voices across the British public. 

The results? The public is more open to locally-led development than we have ever given it credit for. And because the data held up, we wanted to do something braver with it than publish a report and move on. We wanted to test it in the wild, with real money and real campaigns. That is how the Shifting the Power Communications Lab came about. Comic Relief brought together six organisations (Christian Aid, Save the Children, WaterAid, ADD, Age International and Plan International UK) and gave each a small grant, expert coaching and a genuine licence to experiment in live fundraising campaigns. It was seven organisations agreeing to test new narratives with real audiences and real money, and to be honest about what happened.

Support for localisation has increased

In 2023, 34% of people told us local development organisations should take the lead, with organisations from countries like the UK playing a supporting role. Another 33% wanted equal partnership between UK and local organisations. Only 8% thought UK organisations should be in charge. 

We retested the public attitudes research in December 2025, half expecting the numbers to have softened. They had not. By 2025, support for local leadership had risen to 37%, equal partnership sat at 27% and the UK-in-charge model had crept up slightly to 11%. Two years of genuine turbulence in the aid sector, and polarisation at an all-time high, and the public’s core instinct had barely moved.

The public also has clear views on why: 57% think local organisations are more knowledgeable about what their communities actually need. On effectiveness, a quarter said local organisations were more effective outright, and another 25% said both were equally effective, which means half the public already rates local organisations as at least as effective as their UK counterparts. UK organisations still score better on accountability and transparency in people’s minds, but even that gap is narrower than we may like to believe.

The public is ready for a new kind of messaging

Researchers tested 54 different messages with the public, covering every aspect of the Shift the Power model. The number one ranked message read: “We need to empower and uplift local communities in developing countries, so that they become self-sufficient in decision-making and funding development projects.” No mention of crisis. Not a single image of need. Just capacity and self-sufficiency. 

The pattern held across all 54 messages. Anything emphasising long-term impact, capacity building and local expertise performed well. On the other hand, anything built around abstract talk of power, hierarchy or the wider colonial history of aid switched people off, even among audiences who broadly supported the underlying principle. People are not necessarily rejecting the politics. They are rejecting how we have chosen to talk about it. Tangible, outcome-focused language about sustainability and effectiveness beats conceptual language about redistributing power.

These messages don’t land the same way with everyone either. Reform UK voters, for instance, responded more positively than the general population to the message that aid should go directly to local organisations, 69% compared to 58% among the public overall. 

And through the Comms Lab, we saw all of this borne out in practice, not just in theory. Locally-led storytelling outperformed celebrity-fronted content, even in live fundraising campaigns. That is the headline that should give the whole sector pause. We have spent decades treating crisis and pity as the only reliable route to a donation. 

This matters beyond fundraising

There is a wider cost to getting this wrong, and it is not just reputational. Africa No Filter’s research on the cost of media stereotypes shows that biased media coverage, dominated by conflict, poverty and corruption, inflates the perceived risk of doing business in Africa. This distorted narrative is estimated to cost African economies up to US $4.2bn a year in inflated borrowing costs alone. 

Our sector has played a part in that story. Every time we default to the familiar narrative of need, crisis, distance, we reinforce a version of the world that has real economic consequences for the people we claim to be supporting. 

The public was ready before the aid sector

None of this points to a single perfect message. What it gives us is a set of principles to work from: authenticity, respect for local expertise, clarity about impact, and confidence that the public can handle a fuller, more honest picture. Support for locally-led development is not unconditional. It is strongest when we can show it is effective, accountable and built for the long term.

This is the thinking behind Comic Relief’s Shifting the Power programme, our ten-year initiative with the FCDO and partners across Ghana, Zambia and Malawi. It is built on the belief that the communities closest to the challenges are best placed to lead the solutions, and that those of us in the UK have a responsibility to reflect that truth honestly in how we speak to the public.

We took a risk in 2023 by asking a question we were not sure we wanted the answer to. The answer turned out to be more hopeful than we expected. The public was ready before we were. Now the only question worth asking is whether we are finally going to act like it.

Ayesha Farah is Senior Comms and Advocacy Manager at Comic Relief. A longer version of this article can be read on Bond. To find out more about the Shifting the Power Comms Lab, including the full report and the data behind it, take a look here:
https://www.comicrelief.com/funding/tackling-injustices/shifting-the-power/narratives/