Founded in 1993, Demos works with a number of partners including government departments, public sector agencies and charities.

Demos houses the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media (CASM), which leads the study of how the rise of the digital world affects politics, policy and decision-making.

[5] Over the summer of 2008, Demos cut back its workforce (from 23 full-time staff in January 2008[6] to 17 by September 2008[7]) and did not attend any political party conferences, leading to speculation that it was in financial difficulty.

[8][9] In 2010, David Cameron, then leader of the opposition Conservative Party, launched Demos's Character Inquiry, giving a speech on the importance of parenting and early years support.

[10] Following his appointment in 2010, as Special Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, Richard Reeves stepped down as Demos's Director and was replaced by former Economic Secretary to the Treasury Kitty Ussher.

She previously worked for Nick Clegg from 2006 to 2015, helping to write the 2010 Coalition Agreement, and served as Director of Policy to the Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2015.

[15] They are the only think tank in the UK using Pol.is, an online tool used to gather open-ended feedback from large groups of people, for the purposes of policy development.