The Progressive Alliance: What It Means for Energy and Climate
By Jade Pallister, Director of Energy & Infrastructure
Compass - the left-wing think tank closely aligned with Andy Burnham - used its annual Mobilising the Progressive Majority conference to announce a "Council for the Progressive Majority": a formal convening of two senior figures from each of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, the SNP and Plaid Cymru.
The stated goal is to stop a Reform majority. But the implications stretch much further than that.
A new political architecture is taking shape
Compass is widely expected to form part of the ideological machinery of a (still theoretical) Burnham-led Labour government, with founder Neal Lawson tipped for a senior Downing Street role. The Council for the Progressive Majority represents a serious attempt to build the coalition infrastructure before the next election.
For anyone working in energy or nature, the direction of travel matters.
Where the progressive parties agree - and what that means for you
Across the conference, three areas of consensus emerged:
Climate linked to cost of living. The messaging shift here is deliberate and important. Progressives are moving away from abstract environmental framing toward a tangible economic case: cheaper buses, warmer homes, lower bills.
Public ownership. There is broad, cross-party appetite for greater forms of nationalisation - particularly of water companies and energy assets. It is a likely policy commitment in any progressive manifesto, and potentially a negotiating chip in discussion with industry.
Nature and energy as public goods. There was a strong thread running through the day connecting environmental assets to inequality. Expect this framing to intensify.
The proportional representation wildcard
Electoral reform is the progressive alliance's most contentious and consequential ask. The progressive majority has won the largest share of the vote in 10 of the last 11 elections since 1979 - yet delivered only four electoral victories under first-past-the-post.
There is already a joint Green and Lib Dem amendment to the Representation of the People Bill in Parliament, though its prospects under the current government are slim. Burnham's position is that proportional representation (PR) belongs in his next manifesto. Smaller parties want it sooner.
If PR ever passes, it fundamentally reshapes who holds power - and therefore who your stakeholders are. A parliament with meaningful Green and Lib Dem representation looks very different from the one we have today.
The so what: who to be talking to, and why now
The progressive alliance is not yet in power. But it is organising, and the organisations around it - Compass, Common Wealth, the New Economics Foundation, Green New Deal Rising - are actively shaping the policy agenda that a future government would inherit.
For campaigners, corporates and public affairs or nature public affairs professionals, this means three things:
First, don't wait for a Burnham government to start engaging with the progressive ecosystem. The influencers in this space - think tanks, advocacy groups, progressive MPs are setting the intellectual agenda now.
Second, the language you use matters. Cost of living, energy security, and economic resilience will open doors that climate targets alone will not.
Third, cross-party engagement is no longer optional. In a fragmented five-party system, the MPs and councillors who will scrutinise your sector increasingly come from parties beyond Labour. Green, Lib Dem and nationalist politicians deserve a seat at your stakeholder table.
The council announced last weekend may or may not survive contact with electoral reality. But the coalition it represents is real and is an opportunity for progressive organisations.