Martin Lewis launches cross-party Small Ideas Initiative to turn everyday public frustrations into real government policy

From the Newshound archive · first published 8 October 2026.

Martin Lewis is personally bankrolling a new charitable venture, the Small Ideas Initiative, with a £175,000 donation split between innovation charity Nesta's Centre for Collective Intelligence and participation charity Involve. Members of the public are invited to submit practical, low-cost fixes for everyday frustrations — spanning health, transport, housing and policing — at www.small-ideas.org, with a November 12 deadline. A cross-party panel that includes Danny Kruger MP and Dame Penny Mordaunt will choose the strongest submissions for presentation to government, councils and regulators.

Lewis argues that politicians too often overlook 'life's potholes' — minor friction points that make daily life needlessly harder.

The project was partly inspired by an earlier campaign in which Lewis pushed for a single council tax form for dementia sufferers, sparing vulnerable people from a bewildering array of differing local rules.

Submissions must be practical, non-controversial and broadly affordable — anything 'overtly political, illegal or harmful' will be disqualified.