In partnership with the Home Office and supported by the Hofenung Foundation
Over three days in April 2026, senior government officials, parliamentarians, representatives from partner countries, civil society organisations, academics, and other experts convened at Wilton Park to examine the evolving extremism and democratic resilience landscape in the United Kingdom.
The dialogue explored how changes in the threat landscape, ranging from the mainstreaming of extremist narratives to the impact of online ecosystems and state threat activity, are reshaping the context in which democratic institutions operate.
It also considered the effectiveness of current policy approaches and identified areas where new frameworks, improved coordination and stronger evidence are needed to respond to a more complex and evolving set of challenges.
Executive Summary
Over three days in April 2026, senior government officials, parliamentarians, representatives from partner countries, civil society organisations, academics and other experts convened at Wilton Park to examine the evolving extremism and democratic resilience landscape in the United Kingdom. Discussions focused on the interrelationship between rising extremism, declining social cohesion, weakening trust in democratic institutions, a disordered information environment, and increasing hostile state activity.
The dialogue considered the scale and trajectory of the current threat landscape, assessed previous and existing policy approaches, and explored the evidence base around interventions designed to counter extremism and strengthen democratic resilience. Throughout the dialogue, a recurring theme was the need to distinguish between counter-terrorism and counter-extremism. While the UK retains a mature counter-terrorism architecture, there remains no comparable strategic framework for addressing extremism below the terrorism threshold, the mainstreaming of extremist narratives across society, or the wider erosion of democratic norms and cohesion.
Participants agreed that the UK faces a long-term and increasingly complex challenge. Extremist narratives and conspiratorial thinking are becoming more mainstream within political and social discourse, while trust in institutions and democratic processes continues to decline. It was also noted that minority communities, particularly Jewish and Muslim communities, are bearing the brunt of rising hostility, intimidation and hate incidents.
There was broad agreement that existing approaches have struggled to keep pace with the changing threat environment, while government responses were frequently described as fragmented, reactive, and insufficiently coordinated across departments and institutions. While recognising the importance of security responses where appropriate, participants stressed that the challenge cannot be addressed solely through counter-terrorism or law enforcement mechanisms and instead requires a broader whole-of-society approach.
The dialogue also explored the role of online ecosystems, generative artificial intelligence, state threat activity and declining public trust in accelerating extremist narratives and social fragmentation. Participants considered the relationship between democratic resilience and national security, arguing that societies characterised by high levels of trust, cohesion and institutional legitimacy are more resilient to extremism and malign influence.
Significant gaps in data collection, analysis and coordination across government and local authorities were also considered throughout. Participants stressed the need for improved measurement of extremism, social cohesion and democratic resilience, including the possible establishment of a new national index capable of identifying trends, vulnerabilities and emerging hotspots.
The dialogue concluded with a discussion of the components of a future whole-of-society approach. Several proposals were surfaced in the final sessions including reframing extremism and democratic resilience as core national security priorities; establishing clearer leadership from the centre of government; creating a new independent centre to coordinate activity and evaluation; strengthening local resilience and civic trust; and developing more compelling democratic narratives capable of competing effectively within contemporary information ecosystems.