Both of the UK’s two main political parties have now put out their election manifestos. But do they really care about science?

In their 131-page statement of intent, the Tories use the word ‘science’ eight times, or 0.06 times per page. Labour’s 78-page document has six usages, or 0.08 per page.

‘Research’ appears nine times in the Conservative’s manifesto and seven times in Labour’s (0.07 and 0.09 times per page, respectively). ‘Climate change’ is (relatively) much more popular, with 22 mentions from the Conservatives and 13 from Labour.

On this totally arbitrary basis, the Tories take a science lead. Mind you, Labour’s science minister Paul Drayson has said a ‘science manifesto’ is coming soon, so perhaps they’re just saving all the good stuff for that.

In addition, Nick Dusic, director of the Campaign for Science & Engineering notes on New Scientist that, “Science policies affecting research, innovation and education all get a mention in the [Labour] manifesto, but none of those commitments rank as one of their 50 steps for a fairer Britain.”

For perspective, the word ‘crime’ appears 41 times in the Labour manifesto and 39 times in the Conservative manifesto. ‘Fight’, or variations thereof, appears 12 times for Labour and 20 times for the Conservatives.

Images: Wordle