GovernUp was set up in 2014 as an initiative of The Project for Modern Democracy. It brings together senior politicians of all parties, former civil servants, Whitehall advisers and business leaders.

Our mission is to analyse the current problems, challenge the terms of debate, and consider the far-reaching reforms needed in Whitehall and beyond to enable more effective and efficient government, with better economic and social outcomes for the British public.

We launched interim papers for each of our six projects at a conference in February 2015. We subsequently produced a discussion paper on broadband in December 2015 and a report on justice devolution in December 2016.

GovernUp has its own website. In August 2020 it launched the Commission for Smart Government which reported in July 2021.