Duncan O’Leary is Deputy Director of Demos.

Duncan is a former advisor to David Lammy MP, for whom he helped draft and edit Out of the Ashes: Britain after the riots. He worked for Demos between 2005 and 2008, before taking a role in the Strategic Policy Team at the Home Office. He has written widely, including for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Times Educational Supplement and Prospect.

His publications include The Politics of Public Behaviour and The Skills Paradox: Confronting inequality in adult learning.

Feb 14

Giving ‘One Nation’ some definition

Duncan O’Leary on Ed Miliband's intention to re-introduce the 10p tax band.

Feb 6

Football: the people's game?

Duncan O'Leary on how football ownership could be at the vanguard of 'good business'.

Jan 22

The business of business is... doing good?

Duncan O’Leary argues that businesses increasingly realise they should be worried about more than the bottom line.

Jan 8

Benefits uprating: the elephant in the room

Duncan O'Leary argues that both main parties are fighting the battle not the war over the Benefits Uprating Bill.

Nov 21

What makes a good city?

Duncan O'Leary on a new measure of wellbeing in our cities - and the potential impact on policy.

Oct 3

Blue Ed

Duncan O'Leary provides a five-point reaction to Ed Miliband's speech to Labour party conference.

Sep 6

What does ‘predistribution’ mean?

Duncan O'Leary on Ed Miliband's latest neologism and what it means in practice.

Aug 6

The historian who cried wolf

Duncan O'Leary says David Starkey's comments are not conducive to a rounded debate on the riots.

May 21

Talking about my generation

Duncan O'Leary on the generation gap in attitudes to welfare.

Apr 12

Hope in Haidt

Duncan O'Leary reviews the Demos event 'what can liberals learn from conservatives about human nature?'

Mar 16

Protecting the union

Deputy Director, Duncan O'Leary, says that trade unions could be the missing link in Big Society thinking.

Jul 10

Walkabout

I just got in the lift up to our office, only to read a notice saying ‘This lift does...

Jul 7

Fueling debate

George Osborne’s idea of a 'fuel duty stabiliser' is an interesting one...

May 9

The Politics of Public Behaviour

Demos published a new pamphlet yesterday: The Politics of Public Behaviour. It looks at...

May 7

Political Science

A couple of thoughts struck me this morning as I listened to the debate on the today programme...

Apr 24

Think again

Lots of talk of U-turns in the news today. Yesterday’s news on the 10p tax rate, Jim...

Apr 14

You know something they don't know

I’m enjoying the new Politicshome – it’s found a niche in providing cross...

Apr 8

Exchanging ideas

I’ve just seen this article by John Craig – of the newly formed third sector...

Mar 31

Life and art

WARNING: If you have not seen the ending of the West Wing and intend to do so, do NOT continue...

Mar 11

Equality of what?

John Hutton’s speech to Progress today is causing a stir. (Here’s Polly Toynbee...

Mar 10

What interviews should be like

If you have five minutes to spare have a listen to John Humphrey's interview this morning...

Feb 8

Who are you?

Mitt Romney has pulled out of the race to be the Republican nominee, leaving the field clear...

Feb 4

Listen up

Just a quick post to let everyone know that the recordings from the launch of the Demos...

Jan 28

Comment is free, but some are less abusive than others

Good to see that the Guardian is getting a little more web 2.0 with its comment moderation...

Jan 17

Groundblog day

I don’t know why I keep blogging about school choice, but I can’t help it. Today...

Jan 14

Battle of the 'isms

This was the most interesting thing I read over the weekend. It’s a piece looking...

Jan 8

The meaning of modernisation

The Times’ Comment Central is one of my favourite blogs and I enjoy Daniel Finkelstein...

Jan 3

2008: the year of decisions

I know everyone's supposed to be fed up at this time of year but I'm not. I reckon...

Nov 27

Reclaiming evidence

Last week I argued that both the government and the opposition are struggling to reconcile...

Nov 19

Evidence vs Information

Here’s a question. Who knows best about how to teach children to read: teachers and...

Nov 13

'Power to the people' - but how..?

I wonder if David Cameron has prompted an interesting debate this morning – not about...

Nov 8

What equals what?

My hopes for a bit more progressive action in the blogosphere may have been answered. Liberal...

Oct 30

Warning: the type of information that you provide to people may matter

This strikes me as a great idea: 'Drinkers worried about liver damage can test...

Oct 22

Bad behaviour

Anyone interested in the debate on public behaviour – and the role of government in...

Oct 19

News + comment round-up

A few links below that you might be interested in from this week: The Times’ Comment...

Oct 10

Political round-up

If you’re still wondering what to make of the political events of the last few weeks...

Oct 10

Facing the music

There’s another interesting record industry story around today – Radiohead are...

Oct 8

Death tax or life tax?

One of the more interesting Political developments of the last week – the non-election...

Sep 18

The only thing we have to fear...

Just a quick post to flag up an article i have up on the Guardian's Comment-is-Free...

Sep 17

The Politics of Public Behaviour seminars, October 8th and 22nd

Just a quick post to let people know that we’re holding two more seminars on The Politics...

Sep 10

That's not Right

Anthony Browne, the new Director of Policy Exchange, has an article in the Spectator this...

Sep 3

School of Everything

The one question I always struggle to answer is ‘what to people do when they leave...

Aug 29

Watching history

I was in parliament square for the unveiling of the Mandela statue today. I went there thinking...

Aug 14

The failure of market failure

John Kay has an good article in Prospect this month, presumably based on his book The Truth...

Aug 13

They're all the same etc etc

This is pretty good - tells you where all the candidates stand in the US presidential running...

Aug 6

Reforming public service reform

There is a bit of a debate bubbling under about public services at the moment, which will...

Aug 6

Mill: timeless or timed out?

Roy Hattersley has a provocative peice in the Guardian today, in which he argues that J...

Aug 2

Home and Away

I'd forgotten how slow news is in August. If you're struggling for something to...

Jul 31

Daily reading - advice wanted

Here’s a question: can anyone recommend me a good left-wing blog or two to add to...

Jul 19

I don't believe it

This to me is incredible. As in literally. I don’t believe how seriously it is being...

Jul 16

Ken vs Boris

Boris Johnson is standing as a Conservative candidate for London Mayor. This should be fascinating...

Jul 16

The album formerly sold by...

I was bemused watching the news yesterday. Apparently Prince has ‘insulted’...

Jun 27

The Politics of Public Behaviour seminars, 10th July and 19th July

Just a quick post to flag up two roundtable seminars that we are running on The Politics...

Jun 25

Systems tinkering

Another tension i’ve been mulling over recently is the difficulties that all political...

Jun 25

Schools of thought

The Sutton Trust has (rightly) caused a bit of a stir today with its work highlighting Britain...

Jun 11

What works?

Here's a good idea, i think. Harriet Harman says that: "Once a bill has gone through...

Jun 5

Testing times

Here's a thought. The government wants to raise the school leaving age. And lots of...

May 25

Informing or influencing?

Really interesting post from Danny Finkelstein, over on the Times' Comment Central blog...

May 25

Choice words

I’ve been watching the debate about schooling/grammar schools/academies/choice with...

May 21

Hopeful Belfast

I had the pleasure of going to Belfast last week for Thursday and Friday. What a great place...

May 10

Blair resigns

His resignation speech in full: And now, the end is here And so I face the final curtain...

May 3

Cheesed off

Another damaging poll report for the government today:Apparently 52 per cent of senior figures...

Apr 27

You're Hired!

Yesterday Niamh and I launched Demos’s latest pamphlet, Recruitment 2020: How Recruitment...

Apr 3

Polls Apart

It’s a matter of weeks now before a new Prime Minister takes office and the clear...

Feb 27

Soft paternalism

Aside from all the pessimism in Prospect this month there is also a really interesting article...

Feb 26

Who you gonna call?

Neighbourhood Fix-it, apparently. It’s a new website from the evil geniuses at MySociety...

Feb 23

And finally..

What a shame that Martha Kearney is leaving newsnight. She is off to present the World at...

Feb 12

American dream?

So Barack Obama is standing for President. If you're wondering what all the fuss is...

Feb 2

We don't need no thought control...

Iain Dale writes an interesting post on his blog to today, criticising Alan Johnson and...

Jan 31

In the house

Is it me, or is it becoming compulsory to offer some kind of metaphor to do with a house...

Jan 16

Big Bother

Ok i admit it. I watch Big Brother. And i’m worried. In the space of two weeks a whole...

Jan 8

Demos skills event with Bill Rammell, 30th January

Just a quick post to let you know that we are holding an event with Bill Rammell on January...

Jan 3

In demand

I am just writing a provocation paper for a Demos event with Bill Ramell on January 30th...

Dec 18

Another day, another word...

Ever heard of a webinar? Nope me neither, until i was asked to take part in one the other...

Dec 1

I know what you did last summer

As useful as Google is, I think it might have some interesting effects on the recruitment...

Nov 28

What's in a word?

Every so often you see a new word and you feel duty-bound to post it on the blog. So here...

Nov 28

Tripping

The Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, wants learning outside the classroom to be at the...

Oct 30

Stern talking

Couple of quick thoughts on the response to the Stern report on climate change today: ...

Oct 12

Professional matters

Reading the special Every Child Matters pull-out in Society Guardian yesterday one quote...

Sep 29

Friday rant: democracy on the cheap

If there’s one thing that annoys me, it is when the same people who defend the first...

Sep 20

You heard it here first

A while back I wrote a fairly unformed blog post about the relationship between professionalism...

Aug 18

Quote of the week

"An honest and good point, well made" - Labour MP Harry Cohen on John Prescott...

Aug 16

Built to last - but how do you build it?

I've been having a read of the Conservatives' revised Built to Last document, that...

Aug 14

Sufficing - or not

There are lots of different ways to make money in the same market – high value added...

Aug 7

Who are you?

Having watched five episodes of the West Wing this weekend (i'm a late starter) i feel...

Aug 4

In the bag

This is a smart idea of from Tesco - people will be able to earn loyalty points for every...

Aug 2

Local professionalism

I’ve been doing a bit of reading for a new project that we are starting with the IDeA...

Jul 31

The last word

So Tom Bentley finished as Demos Director on Friday – completing seven years at the...

Jul 26

Fit for purpose

Oh dear. Tony Blair has made a speech saying that people need to adapt their lifestyles...

Jul 25

Get involved!

Welcome to the project blog for this project. During the project we will be posting some...

Jul 25

From strategy to reality

In The Leadership Imperative, published by Demos last year, Hannah Lownsbrough and I argued...

Jul 25

Get involved!

Welcome to the project blog for this project. During the project i will be posting some...

Jul 21

Where to, guv?

Writing in the Guardian today Polly Toynbee argues that “If John Major was in office...

Jul 20

Hot air?

It didn’t make the front pages (as far as I know) but I think David Miliband’...

Jul 11

Recyclebank

I’ve just come across what looks like a brilliant recycling scheme in the US. It’...

Jun 13

How to reconnect young people and organisations

Have a read of the pamphlet here, or have a glance over the presentation that Sarah and...

Jun 5

Top of the Hoffs

Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman says that 'We have never been so free and so unable to change...

Jun 5

The Origin of Wealth

I'm going to do something silly here and recommend a book before i've even read...

May 22

Jamie, Tony and David

Tony Blair caused a stir a couple of weeks back by signing a petition (do prime ministers...

May 19

Rise of the Pro-Ams

Demos associates Charlie Leadbeater and Paul Miller have just started working on a book...

May 19

Collective action lives on

Crisis, what crisis? In a perfect storm of identity politics and collective action a new...

May 19

Why we get the politicians we deserve

For me, the answer (as always) seems to lie in Ronald Heifetz's analysis of leadership...

May 10

If Mark Moore made libraries'

As with so many of the innovative projects that we've visited this week it seems to...

May 1

Back in the pavlova paradise

The PHOs in particular seem to be doing some really interesting work by linking GPs, communities...

Apr 24

About Us [part II]

Sorry for the second posting in a week about Demos, but i couldn't let my favourite...

Apr 21

Thought for the day

No Friday rant as yet, so a thought for the day instead:Before you criticise someone, walk...

Apr 12

Demos in wikipedia

...ok you've clicked this far......so you might fancy editing the discription of us...

Apr 10

Case studies of new professionalism

You may have noticed that we have a bit on an interest in professionalism at Demos at the...

Apr 6

This time its personal

Just a quick entry to point towards a couple of interesting things going on over at the...

Apr 3

Trust me, i'm a doctor

The announcement from a group of 900 doctors that the government should look at moving away...

Mar 24

Civil Partnership

- Using the Children and Young People's Plan to agree a where national priorities...

Mar 23

Comments

Yes, the rumours are true - the comments section is working again. There's no registration...

Mar 23

Life-work balance

Update: thanks to everyone who has emailed in on this (keep them coming!) - i'll post...

Mar 20

In praise of inefficiency

- There is a school of thought that Surestart is actually becoming less effective as it...

Mar 16

learning on the job

- Perhaps the biggest lesson, which we hadn't picked up before we got here is the genuine...

Mar 14

Deadly serious

Amongst the wealth of useful things that we've been learning about New Zealand over...

Mar 10

New Zealand's Business as usual

Firstly, it's very noticeable that the New Zealand political scene is quite differentt...

Mar 6

What kind of 'power to the people'?

Of course it may mean all of the above - and more - but i do think that the terminology...

Mar 1

Topstuff

I see that Topshop is launching an ethical clothing range today (or an experiment with one...

Feb 24

You're fired

The general response seems to be that there are some funny people around nowadays. But does...

Feb 16

Invisible politics

Perhaps James Tooley, who thinks that education was fine before the state got involved with...

Feb 14

It's good to talk

Talking to the public about science can be a controversial matter. Really controversial...

Feb 9

Commenting on the Greenhouse

You've never had it so bad. Sorry if you've been trying to comment on the greenhouse...

Feb 9

Drinking humble pie

The Guardian carries a story today on the fall of serious/violent crime since the liberalisation...

Feb 8

Taking the debate upmarket

The temptation is to be either support or oppose greater freedoms for schools, but the danger...

Jan 26

McFamilies

Interesting news - McDonald's is introducing a pilot scheme which will allow two members...

Jan 20

Wiki-d

Contintuing the theme of the take-up new ideas/technology, I meant to write a post the other...

Jan 20

What's all the skype about...?

You may have noticed that we're getting excited about Skype at the moment at Demos...

Jan 19

Getting it wrong

Digby Jones (who is Chair of HTI for this year) was typically strong on this � arguing...

Jan 4

Political incorrectness gone mad

Amongst his list of criticisms of the 'PC Brigade' he writes, 'Giving employment...

Jan 3

total public services

And wasn't one of the great football teams was the Dutch team which famously played...

Dec 21

It's all about me

Great picture over on Councillor Andrew Brown's blog...

Dec 21

War of the Wards

There will be the inevitable cries for government to �do something�, which...

Dec 20

He's right you know

I've come accross a bizarre set of statistics over on the Guardian Newsblog - apparently...

Dec 19

What qualifies you for work?

The answer's not as obvious as you'd think, apparently. A couple of stats from today...

Dec 19

Are you being served?

All of which reminds me of a speech I saw Alan Johnson make on regulation about a month...

Dec 15

Enterprisingly numerate and literate problem-solving citizenship studies...

The interesting thing about it seems to be that there is no predetermined answer that the...

Dec 13

You decide...

This will be interesting if it happens.People who are not members of the Conservative Party...

Dec 7

The Leadership Imperative

Our report on leadership in children's serives is out today (download it here). After...

Dec 6

The votes are in...

There have been weeks of deliberation. Of point scoring. Of drama. Of tears. Of trials...

Dec 5

It's all academic

So i've been doing some reading for our project on Organisational litercy. Having been...

Nov 30

'Organisational Literacy' project

- We'll be looking beyond literacy and numeracy (though of course not dismissing them...

Oct 27

The Politics of Community

I've just had a read of David Miliband's speech this week on 'The Politics of...

Oct 11

Beckham for PM

George Weah, footballing legend, is one of 20 candidates standing for President in the Liberian...

Oct 11

NFER change for Children Site

Just come across what looks a useful resource for anyone interested in Children's Services...

Oct 7

I've been inspecting you

Five steps to better inspectionWe expect a lot of our leaders. In education, we expect them...

Sep 26

Risking it

Yep, you guessed it. According to this bit of research, you might well be safer choosing...

Sep 13

The Backlash

England won the ashes yesterday. The contest has captured the nation's imagination all...

Sep 1

Who are ya..?

Despite all the cliche's about 'lame ducks', i'd say Michael Howard has...

Aug 15

Ten lessons on leadership...

1. Failure is often a precondition for innovation and learning. Leaders must balance organisational...

Aug 15

Blood, sweat and tears...

Like many a great sporting event, however, the occassion has been marred by controversy...

Aug 5

When values meet

During the discussion, one thing which I thought came out particularly strongly was the...

Jul 20

Beer for geeks

Who said Open Source couldn't be fun...?[Via the GIB]

Jul 19

Whose service is it anyway?

First things first, this is already happening in a lot of pretty successful schools and...

Jun 29

A common band

Something pretty inspiring happened to me yesterday - i met an 86 year-old wearing a white...

Jun 20

Political hot potatoes

Here are two things i didn't know before i switched on the radio this morning:1. There...

May 31

Whisky drinkers, the England Rugby Team'and Children's trusts

As it happens, Woodward makes the same point in his book. During his time in charge he revolutionized...

May 20

All for one

It's Friday, we're starting a new project. And it looks a really interesting one...

May 19

'Ello 'ello 'ello

Avid greenhouse readers might remember that a couple of months ago Demos held a seminar...

May 18

Listen carefully

I've just been doing some reading for our Community Leadership project with the National...

May 18

These are not the policies you are looking for...

George Lucas says there'll be no more Star Wars after Episode III. What with all the...

Apr 27

Getting the story straight

Having done this, it came out in favour of Labour...before decrying virtually everything...

Apr 21

Lessons of Power

Governments eh. Geoff Mulgan, co-author of the aforementioned Wide Open [and Demos founder...

Apr 21

They want to be elected

MPs eh. You might have noticed that they work for you...well it also turns out that they...

Apr 18

Seriously Small

Sometimes you wonder about the future of politics. And then you have your faith restored...

Apr 13

On your toes, folks

One up for the Open Source movement - the Guardian Online reports that Wikipedia had an...

Apr 12

The Big Issue

Which all makes you wonder whether there really is one. As I sat with a group of professionals...

Apr 6

You read it here first

Bit slow on the uptake here, but The Times has an election blog...featuring (amongst others...

Apr 5

Collectively individual

Collective action seems to be getting interesting nowadays. The Fairtrade movement seems...

Apr 4

Lion-sized leadership

The bit that really interested me comes towards the end of the article when Woodward says...

Mar 23

Pros vs Ams?

If you enjoyed our publication last year The Pro-Am Revolution then the discussion taking...

Mar 21

Wake up!

So it's Monday. Feeling tired? I'm not. But then according to a survey reported...

Mar 15

Parent Power

With an election drawing closer, there's been an ever'growing clamour over the...

Mar 10

Policing by the book

Great story on BBC news this morning about a new directive in Mexico City ' the mayor...

Mar 9

The way it should be

The topic up for discussion in our seminar was Personalised Learning and the presenters...

Mar 3

Did you hear about the...

'survey that says word-of-mouth/personal recommendation is more important in creating...

Mar 2

Renewing the Beeb

So the BBC's license fee looks set to be renewed today, with a new governance structure...

Feb 25

The Wage Forward..?

It may have died down a bit recently, but one phrase that's been hard to avoid during...

Feb 23

One more drink and a lie-in?

There are undoubtedly many profound ways to engage with the public realm. For now, though...

Feb 22

The day in pictures

News is getting pretty visual nowadays. I've just come across a site called 10x10...

Feb 21

See you tomorrow

Right, i'm off home.[via Tom Watson]

Feb 17

Yesterday's News

Seeing as the paperboy in my area has taken to delivering the papers after everyone has...

Feb 8

Faking it

The first was the description given by Derek Twigg, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of...

Feb 3

School Networks, Election Manifestos, and Sunny St Albans

Networks of schools are something that Demos has been interested in for a while; last year...

Jan 26

What-do-you-reckon'?

So the good news is that Tom Watson's blog is back up and running ' and the other...

Jan 24

How to prevent a word of mouth epidemic

I came across an article in The Times over the weekend. The headline was 'And talking...

Jan 20

How to blog like a rockstar

Ever wondered why your postings never get any comments? If so, click here for some advice...

Jan 19

What the Media Are Doing to Our Politics

The debate certainly seems to be gathering momentum ' the Media Guardian ran lengthy...

Jan 6

Busted!

Being a text vote it was fairly predictable that a group with a teenage following would...

Jan 6

Networked Learning Communities enter the blogosphere

The Networked Learning Communities programme, which aims to facilitate the spread of good...

Dec 16

Sky's the limit?

As might be expected they have gone for the Sky option, arguing that the '2 million...

Dec 13

Smaller government...literally

Apparently polling has demonstrated some support for the idea, but is it really going to...

Nov 24

The politics of fear?

There’s a bit of a storm brewing over Peter Hain’s comments in an interview...

Nov 22

From Newspapers to Viewspapers

Peter Preston wrote an article in the Observer yesterday that’s worth a read if you...

Nov 17

Joining the party

This seems to throw up a couple of issues:Firstly, that the first-past-the-post system isn...

Nov 9

Hold the front page

An experiment on the Guardian newsblog starts today which might be worth keeping an eye...

Oct 29

Whatever it takes

It can be difficult filling an audience for an event, even if you’re President of...

Oct 22

The Washington Journo

On one level this seems a good example of the Pro-Am economy, but on another it interests...

Oct 20

Chocolate with a difference

Following hot on the heels of Mecca Cola and The Islamic Bank of Britain is Ummah Foods...

Oct 19

The 'September 10 attitude'

Interesting to see George Bush criticising his opponent for his ‘September 10 attitude...

Sep 30

Thoroughly Unreliable

Another day of speeches in Brighton, here's a flavour..."Of course we debate. Of...

Sep 29

Depressing

My little brother achieves fame before I do, reacting to Tony Blair's conference speech...

Sep 27

More Brighton blogging

As the posts come in from Brighton, it seems that the Labour Party itself is getting in...

Sep 24

Lost value?

Public value might not be that valuable, suggests James Crabtree in an article in The New...

Sep 14

Guest blogger no.2

As promised, the recruitment of guest bloggers for the Party conferences continues. David...

Sep 6

Straw poll

There’s a bit of an experiment taking place on Tom Watson's blog at the moment...

Sep 1

Like an ipod...

The UK's first official download chart is launched today.The move is being trumpeted...

Aug 17

Anyone's armband

A few words from the camp:"We'll judge each game and each week as it comes."...

Aug 16

Cancer Care

The way in which medical staff provide care for cancer patients was explained to me over...

Aug 5

Feeling unwell? Have a holiday...

The idea has had a mixed reception – some regarding it as fairly traditional bonus...

Aug 2

Big Brother meets politics (again)

When George Orwell wrote 1984 he probably didn’t envisage Davina McCall presiding...

Jul 26

Blogging to the Converted?

The issue still being debated, however, is whether these blogs actually broaden the base...

Jul 12

Apathy on the Beeb

Perhaps foolishly I expected them to appear at the top of the page (where the headlines...

Jun 28

Roundies and Squaries

The Guardian carries the think-tank version of the kiss-and-tell story today. Ellie Levenson...

Jun 21

PPPs down under

The Evatt Foundation in Australia have just published an article that I wrote for their...

Jun 21

Kerry storms ahead…

Its not something which seems likely to precipitate an immediate revision of the American...

May 5

Bookworms and Networks

[via IWire]Valdis Crebs has produced a new networked representation of the purchasing pattern...

Apr 26

"The man" fights back

Last month there was a brief discussion on an example of the internet 'bringing innovation...

Apr 23

Higher Personalisation

Charlie Leadbeater continues his personalisation Odyssey with an article in The Times Higher...

Apr 5

Open Source Learning?

Where does plagiarism stop and open source learning begin? A report from the Joint Council...

Mar 25

Offshore benefits?

Just read an interesting Article in USA Today regaling the benefits of offshoring programming...

Feb 27

Miliband on Personalisation

The last two days has seen Demos, OECD and the Innovation Unit (DfES) hosting an international...

Feb 25

Politi-Cola

Last week I watched two different programmes charting the progress of two new brands of...