The Editor's Post: A tale of two elections

Laura Joffre 12th July 2024

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Both France and the UK have a well-established impact community. While it can easily adapt to political change, it is harder to adapt to political chaos – but the social sector can play a key part to tackle the issues at its roots. This week's view from the Pioneers Post newsroom.

Last week, two major European countries went to the polls – and the results couldn’t be more different.

The UK saw a landslide win for the Labour party – a much expected result, which gives Keir Starmer’s government a huge majority in parliament for the next five years. Outcome: pretty stable.

In France, the results came as a surprise – the far-right, expected to be the biggest group in parliament, was relegated to third place behind a new coalition of left-wing parties, and President Macron’s centrist alliance. None of the three groups are anywhere close to having a majority in Parliament – and seem reluctant to speak to each other. Macron said coalition talks would “take some time” – how long is anyone’s guess; if talks between parties fail there could be a real parliamentary gridlock. Outcome: a mess.

As we’ve seen before, the impact community needs to work with policymakers to help build the right ecosystem for social enterprises and mission-driven finance to thrive. The organisations that represent them need to speak the right language to appear relevant to the priorities of the government of the day; for the simple reason that creating impact takes much longer than an electoral cycle.

In the UK, the social impact sector is currently experiencing a huge change of direction in policymaking. But it was expected for several months, and we know that this direction is likely to remain steady for some time; so the main actors stand ready – and they’ve told me what to expect for this week’s top story.

In France, the question is becoming almost philosophical: how can you work with a non-existent government in political chaos?

The country has a long history of supporting the social economy through public policy, over successive governments; if parliament is gridlocked it won’t be able to push this agenda further. The French impact community is still taking stock of what’s just happened, and as the dust settles it will find a path forward and continue to make the case for the social economy to policymakers.

In the meantime, social enterprises and impact investors will continue their work, helping to tackle the deep social issues at the root of the country’s divisions.

Transformational

We know that the impact community is resilient. Social enterprises have the potential to be transformational in the most challenging circumstances, and France’s political chaos is somewhat dwarfed by what’s happening elsewhere. This week we bring you the stories of entrepreneurs operating in Yemen, who are working to bring innovative solutions to basic needs that the state cannot deliver in the war-torn country. An inspiring read.

Top of the class

The UK’s top 100 social enterprises have been revealed! Check out the 2024 SE100 list in partnership with NatWest Social and Community Capital published today. We hope you can join us at the award ceremony next week in London to celebrate the country’s most inspiring social enterprises and impact businesses.