Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and facing the challenges and opportunities of a post-Brexit world, the UK government must deliver on the vision of its innovation strategy with increased funding for scientific research. The success of the life sciences sector will be key to the delivery of the government’s scientific superpower ambitions. Boosting public funding will depend on continued political, and therefore public, support. With reference to his career in politics and industry, Ian Taylor shows how effective communication with the public, providing reassurance and dispelling myths, is central to the sector sustaining success in the long term.