---
title: Sortition Foundation
type: advocacy
status: active
country: GB
website: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org
logo: /assets/org-logos/sortition-foundation.png
contact:
  checked: 2026-08-01
  email: press@sortitionfoundation.org
  form: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/contact
  source: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/contact
summary: A UK-based organisation advocating for sortition (random selection) in democratic
  institutions — running the sortition process for European Citizens' Panels, campaigning
  to replace the UK House of Lords with a citizens' chamber, and building an open-source
  lottery platform.
concepts:
- sortition
- deliberative-democracy
- citizens-assembly
- representative-democracy
location:
  latitude: 52.234
  longitude: 0.0866
  name: Cambridge, United Kingdom
  precision: city
news_page: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/updates
rss_feed: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/updates.rss
events:
- date: '2016-01-01'
  title: Informal founding — nine people met in a London Indian restaurant and decided
    to found the organisation
  url: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/history
  proof_level: medium
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: false
  proof_warning: true
- date: '2017-03-04'
  title: Incorporated as a UK company
  url: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/history
  quote: on 4 March 2017 we registered as a member-run, not-for-profit company limited
    by guarantee in the UK.
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-12'
  notable: true
activity:
  manual:
    checked: 2026-08-08
    date: 2026-06-18
    note: 'Latest update: We''re looking for a new Independent Director (18 June,
      2026)'
    url: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/updates
  dod:
    checked: 2026-08-08
    date: 2026-06-18
    note: Updates page fetched 8 Aug 2026; most recent post 18 Jun 2026 (hiring Independent
      Director); previous post 26 Feb 2026 (Frontiers of Democratic Lotteries Workshop)
    url: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/updates
  rss:
    date: 2026-06-18
    note: 'Latest post: We''re looking for a new Independent Director'
    url: http://www.sortitionfoundation.org/new_independent_director_2026
    checked: 2026-08-17
  scrape:
    checked: 2026-06-08
    hint: bot_blocked
    note: News page unreachable
  sitemap:
    date: 2026-05-26
    note: Page last modified (from sitemap)
last_checked: '2026-08-08'
---

The Sortition Foundation is the UK's leading organisation specifically dedicated to sortition — the selection of decision-makers by random lot rather than election. Founded by Brett Hennig, it combines advocacy, campaigning, and hands-on lottery services: the foundation designs and runs the stratified random-selection process for major deliberative exercises, including the European Citizens' Panels convened by the European Commission.

## Campaigns and projects

**House of Citizens.** The foundation's flagship campaign aims to replace the appointed House of Lords with a randomly selected citizens' chamber serving fixed, non-renewable terms. Polling commissioned by the foundation in May 2025 found that a majority of UK respondents supported the idea.[^poll-lords]

**Greater Manchester Citizens' Assembly.** Under the banner "Our Home: Our Say," the foundation has been canvassing Greater Manchester residents and building a campaign for a regional citizens' assembly. A May 2026 poll found nearly 60% of Mancunians supported one.[^gm-poll]

**Open Democratic Lottery Platform.** An open-source software tool for running transparent sortition processes — handling the stratified random selection, invitation, and onboarding of participants for citizens' assemblies and panels.[^odlp]

**European Citizens' Panels.** The foundation was commissioned to design and deliver the sortition process for the European Commission's Citizens' Panels, recruiting representative samples of EU citizens for deliberative exercises on topics including pollinators, climate, and youth participation. It has published methodology reports on how the sortition was conducted.[^ecps]

**International work.** Beyond the UK, the foundation has run the lottery selection for assemblies in Australia (energy-transition conversations in Menzies and Bennelong), Canada (Burnaby's Official Community Plan assembly), and Cumbria (climate voices). It also runs an annual "Frontiers of Democratic Lotteries" workshop in Budapest and maintains a [Sortition Foundation Australia](sortition-foundation-australia.md) chapter in Melbourne.[^updates]

## Key people

- **Brett Hennig** — co-founder and author of *The End of Politicians: Democratic Alternatives to Them* (Scribe Publications, 2017). The foundation's principal public voice internationally.[^hennig]

## Links

- Website: [sortitionfoundation.org](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org)
- Updates: [sortitionfoundation.org/updates](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/updates)
- Open Democratic Lottery Platform: [sortitionfoundation.org/opendlp](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/opendlp)

## See also

- [Sortition Foundation (Australia)](sortition-foundation-australia.md) — Australian chapter
- [Your Party is using sortition](../../blog/posts/2025-12-07-your-party-is-using-sortition.md) — DOD blog post on a UK party adopting sortition in practice

[^hennig]: Brett Hennig, *The End of Politicians: Democratic Alternatives to Them*, Scribe Publications, 2017.

[^updates]: "2026 Frontiers of Democratic Lotteries Workshop" (18 June 2026) and "We're looking for a new Independent Director" — [Updates page](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/updates), Sortition Foundation. Fetched 12 August 2026, active with posts through June 2026.

[^poll-lords]: "43% of British adults, including 46% of adults living in the North, say that replacing the House of Lords with a citizens' assembly would increase their trust in politics" [New poll finds widespread support for replacing the House of Lords](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/uk_poll_may_2025), Sortition Foundation, 8 May 2025.

[^gm-poll]: "59% of Mancunians support the proposal for a Greater Manchester citizens' assembly" [Nearly 60% of Mancunians want a citizens' assembly](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/gm_polling_may_2026), Sortition Foundation, 6 May 2026.

[^odlp]: "Last year we secured funding to build OpenDLP, a brand new open-source digital platform that will make democratic lotteries more inclusive by automating the process for selecting participants for citizens' assemblies." [Introducing the Open Democratic Lottery Platform](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/introducing_the_open_democratic_lottery_platform), Sortition Foundation, 8 July 2025.

[^ecps]: "As we continue our work across the continent, we remain committed to upholding the democratic potential of sortition-based processes — bringing real people into meaningful dialogue and decision-making about Europe's future." [Empowering Citizens Across Europe: Sortition in the European Citizens' Panels](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/ecps_2025), Sortition Foundation, 10 June 2025.