It turns out 82% of the UK supports Zarah Sultana’s transformative economic policies

82% of Britain supports an economic transformation of the country, according to polling from anthropologist Jason Hickel and the Lancet. This is brilliant news for Zarah Sultana MP who is campaigning for a

socialist economy that includes workers running their workplaces through cooperatives. It means public services run for need, not profit, with workers and users on the boards of those organisations. Democratic ownership. And it means the entire economy run by workers, not the billionaires and the corporations that run it today.

The Zarah Sultana transformation with huge majority support

The survey asked a large representative sample of people in the UK whether they support a full proposal for transforming the economy, which included:

• Scaling down unnecessary production that is ecologically damaging
• Reducing economic inequality
• Delivering universal public services with a public job guarantee, re-organising “production around need”
• Democratising finance and production lines
• Removing neo-colonial extraction of “unequal exchange” from the Global South to the north

Hickel pointed out that other studies also show strong support for “eco-socialist” policies. The academic also said the polling shows that

the transformative vision and policies advanced by ecosocialism are popular and can form the basis of a winning political campaign. The common notion that these ideas are too “radical” and cannot gain support, is clearly wrong. People want these things, and are likely to support political leaders who can credibly promise to deliver them.

The main obstacle to transformation is not popular will, but the capitalist class that currently holds predominant power over production and within political institutions.

Perhaps Your Party (or/ and the Greens) don’t need an electoral pact with a more ‘progressive’ Labour party — after Keir Starmer — to win a majority in the UK.

Job guarantee

One policy that is largely absent from discussions within progressive parties is a job guarantee. And the Lancet polling shows it’s popular. When the rate of people, in the UK, who are not in employment has risen to 5.1% (at around 1.85 million), this is a policy worth considering. Especially when one notes that a further 9.1 million people are economically inactive.

At the same time, in the three months leading up to September 2025, the UK reported approximately 717,000 job vacancies. So there are millions more people who are not in employment than there are jobs, before taking into account whether they have the skills necessary.

Meanwhile, 22% of people work a 60+ hour week in the UK and many more work 50+ hours, while unemployment figures continue to rise.

This makes no sense. People should be sharing such jobs rather than some working zero hours and some over 60 hours. A jobs guarantee could help re-organise the economy and ensure people have both fulfilment and a lot of time for socialising with friends and family, as well as their interests.

Campaigning labels

Another striking finding from the Lancet polling was that labels are highly important when campaigning. When asked about the label “de-growth” without any description, only up to 26% of UK respondents supported it. And when asked about the label “eco-socialism” without any description, only up to 58% of respondents supported it.

Progressive parties should take heed: traditional wording isn’t the way forward. It’s better to talk in language that isn’t politically charged.

The polling from Hickel and the Lancet used two groups in the UK and found some variation in results. But the study is certainly promising for anyone who wants progressive change.