Today Sortition Foundation launches the 858 Project.
858 years ago King Henry II shook things up by introducing juries. After eight centuries they've more than proven their worth as the backbone of the legal system and now it's time to put ordinary people at the helm in politics too.
The 858 Project is a new umbrella campaign launching in June 2024 to finish the job King Henry II started by upgrading the UK’s political institutions.
Specifically by replacing the unrepresentative and unaccountable House of Lords, a legacy of feudalism that nonetheless continues to wield real constitutional power, with a second chamber that trusts and is trusted by all citizens across every nation in the UK. A House of Citizens.
The 858 Project is being led by the Sortition Foundation, a leading organisation in the field that works all around the world using democratic lotteries to bring together representative groups of people from the general population to deliberate on important issues.
Sortition Foundation’s proposal to establish a House of Citizens, builds on the permanent citizens assemblies in Paris and Belgium and their reputation for finding ways forward on difficult issues.
How the 858 Project works
The 858 Project welcomes all organisations and individuals who share the goal of finally, once and for all, bringing the UK’s political system up to date.
The 858 Project brings a simple unifying message for this goal, allowing supporters to share resources and ideas across their own networks, members and advocates.
The 858 Project’s Advisory Board brings together highly respected and experienced individuals from across multiple fields to help deliver the 858 Project’s vision of a democracy everyone can be proud of.
A democracy that trusts and is trusted by all.