I'm a lobbyist -AMA

[Lobbyist123]

I work in Government Affairs - also called Public Affairs or Lobbying (though we don't generally like that term!).

I currently run the government affairs team for a large company, but I've previously worked for charities and campaign coalitions.

Essentially my job is to help politicians and civil servants to understand what my organisation thinks about their policies, and if possible, to persuade them to do things which will be more helpful for us.

In general, we can only do that if we can show that it will be better for society as a whole; or if it's a really technical thing that we understand better than the people writing the rules.

The thing I'm most proud of is working with a coalition of women's organisations a few years ago that persuaded government to keep legal aid for more family law cases which involved domestic abuse.

I also try to explain politics to the people running my organisation, so they can take decisions based on what might happen. Brexit is obviously keeping me busy at the moment!

So go on - AMA (except what will happen in Brexit. I don't have a clue about that).

Do you know any dummies guide to politics? I consider myself quite bright but politics just baffles me

Hi, I mentioned your thread to my dd who is currently studying politics at university. She would like to know how you got into lobbying in the first place as this interests her very much. I would be very proud of my dd if she someday manages to match your legal aid achievement . Thanks

Might the best guide to politics is the newspapers. Right now is obviously a crazy time, but keep reading and it will start to make sense.

Read across the spectrum - the Guardian and the Daily Mail - to get a full view f what people think. The BBC is probably a good place to start to get the quickest idea of what has actually happened.

Ultimate The most important thing for your daughter to do if she wants to get into lobbying is to get political experience.

The party doesn't matter, but she should get involved in uni politics, and through that the local party, to get a first taste of how politics really works.

Most people in lobbying have worked in parliament as an MPs researcher for a few years, as that's the best possible way to understand how Westminster really works. The W4MP website is the best place to look for theses roles.

Government affairs consultancies do have entry level roles and grad schemes which she could apply to as soon as she graduates, but she'll have a far higher chance if she's worked in Parliament first.

Thank you for your advice Lloybist. She is involved in uni politics, helps on the university's political paper and is also a member of the local Labour Party. She is going looking for W4MP website as I type 😁.

She was hoping to go down the civil service fast track route, aiming for a Parlimentary Aide position. Would your recommend that as a useful route too?

Also, did you feel you had more influence whilst representing a charitable organisation, or as now working for a private company? And what made you switch?