Posted on Open a newspaper or scroll through social media and you can’t help but fall over a story, thread or post that is really aimed at lobbying the Government. But how can you tell? What are the tell-tale signs? And what could you learn from it? A Recent example The fall-out from the recent, short-lived European […]
Posted on Dealing with a pandemic was always going to be one of the biggest tests any organisation or any individuals will have to face. Learning from the experiences we have been through is vital to ensure that we build resilience and increase readiness for future crises. The National Audit Office’s report published today (Initial learning from […]
Posted on In March and April 2021, the Whitehall and Industry Group (WIG) asked more than 50 large private sector organisations about public-private sector collaboration, Net Zero and Covid-19. The responses showed that whilst there is much to welcome, much more remains to be achieved. The respondents to the survey worked within the government affairs function for […]
Posted on I was recently set the challenge of describing how best organisations can prepare for engagement with policy makers, especially politicians, to ensure that it is effective. My comments were made in a discussion about ‘When Business Meets Politics’ for the British Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic that I took part in with Václav […]
Posted on A series of scandals have recently impacted on public affairs. Despite those involved being David Cameron and Boris Johnson, they have been labelled as ‘lobbying’ scandals. This potentially damages us all. We have to appreciate that if the reputation of the profession is damaged then it has a direct impact on all of us. The […]
Posted on The 48-hour life cycle of the proposed European Super League showed the cost of not working with stakeholders, especially political ones. Decisions made behind closed doors are doomed to failure. Politicians, especially, never like to be excluded. The complete and utter outrage that followed immediately on the late night/early morning official announcement must have been […]
Posted on The public wants what the public gets… In 2013 – before the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists had been installed under the Lobbying Act – Tamasin Cave of SpinWatch gave evidence to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee (PCRC) calling the proposed register “not fit for purpose”. The industry agreed; it would cover only a small proportion of lobbying […]
Posted on Amazon has recently taken a more public and aggressive approach to political engagement. But using Twitter to engage in a more direct way is not without its pitfalls. Decisions about whether and how to use Twitter in any public affairs campaign is now a normal part of strategy development. Some organisations are more geared up […]
Posted on Politics has been dominated in recent years by Brexit and Covid. The amount of space for other issues, the ‘normal’ business of government, has had very little space. That is now starting to change, and we all need to be prepared for the rush of policies, ideas, consultations and, potentially, legislation. The machinery of government […]
Posted on There is no such thing as waiting for your turn when it comes to government announcements. It is dangerous to assume that simply because government makes one announcement that there is a definitive logic to the next. Instead, public affairs always has to help shape the policy future. You have to assume that there is […]