I'm a lobbyist. AMA.

[nachdemregen]

As above, I work in public affairs, aka lobbying. I usually describe myself as a lobbyist as most people look at me blankly when I say 'public affairs'!

Why do people think it’s all sinister. I’m a former a lobbyist for the charity sector and now work in the civil service, people in govt are generalists. They don’t know about a specific issue ie secondary breast cancer and lobbyists use their influence to ensure that the right people know what they need to in order to make the best decisions. Obviously big business also can do this but it’s an essential part of a civil society to have all kinds of interests represented and actually the majority of civil servants aren’t Matt Hancock and are just trying to do a good job in their area of work.

Absolutely no cash payments. Some lobbyists put on 'hospitality' for politicians and sometimes that's quite effective. For example, I guess the Royal Opera House or Wimbledon both have lobbyists. The first thing you'd do is invite the relevant Secretary of State to come and experience it first hand! But some of the other 'hospitality' (eg lavish dinners) seems a bit old school to me. It's legitimate, and politicians have to declare it above a certain value.

'Engaging with the government' is what we do, but that covers a lot of activities.

Exactly. That's one of the reasons I started the thread. Sometimes I get asked about smoke-filled rooms etc but that's a bygone era. What we do these days is represent our company to the government and try and get sensible laws passed.

Very! Who knows, we might have come across each other in real life!

It’s a very interesting sector of what goes into operating as a wider society.

In your example of Tesco wanting to pre-warn the government that legislation would inflate the price of fruit, there may well be an alternate lobbyist working for a pesticide/pharmaceutical business who would argue that the decision is worthwhile and favourable. The art of lobbying is about persuading individuals with sway in decision making to be on your side. The question then is, how do I convince them in my favour, and what tools can be used to do so. Could you please explain what you believe is most useful in getting favourable results?

You agency or in house?

Can you give us an example of a recent protect and your role in it?

@BitOutOfPractice its not actually. The purpose of a lobbyist to to provide information. The person who is SofS often has no prior experience of that area and a lobbyist can help them create ‘good’ legislation without bad unintended consequence.

For example, one reason why the govt won’t differentiate between convenience foods and other food for VAT purposes (which would increase their tax intake) is because of the natural outrage there would be because some can only cook pot noodles (or whatever) because they don’t have access to full ovens (ie: refugees or those in emergency housing).

oh yes for sure. For whatever cause you're pushing, there'll usually be someone pushing just as hard in the opposite direction!

In general terms, people forget that politicians are consumers like you and me. So you have to have the proper facts and figures to back up your argument, but also you have to tell the right story. So you can talk in abstract about, say, how the price of bananas will go up if they pass X law. But if you can get a case study about a struggling family and what this will mean for them - I think you need that too.

I hope that answers your question. I'm happy to talk in more detail about the tools we use if that's of interest.

I think it's a fascinating area. I work with lobbyists and some civil society advocacy groups and I'm always fascinated by their work. My organisation does technical research and so we're sometimes involved in the discussions as experts and I have always found that civil servants are very clear about who is lobbying them and for what purpose. I've also assumed that the work of a lobbyist is probably not as glamorous as a lot of people think! Is that your experience? The lobby groups I work with are very deep in the technical wording of bills for example and will spend days working on just one clause.

I've done both, but currently in house.

Recently I (along with others in the industry) stopped an an amendment in the Lords. It would be outing to reveal the detail but basically one of the largest players in my sector was pushing for it, knowing it would screw over some of the smaller players. We managed to get to a few peers and explain why the amendment was a bad idea and it got defeated.

oh it's definitely not that glamorous! It's a lot of reading and research and lots of boring meetings. Some of the stuff I work on is very nerdy and detailed!

But every time I walk into Parliament, through Westminster Hall and up towards the lobby, I get a thrill. Maybe that's sad but it makes it worth it to me!

I'm interested in this viewpoint. Can you tell me why you think it's naughty?

Honestly the dark arts do exist but anyone claiming to practise them probably isn't doing anything of the sort. Yes there's a mystique about lobbying and some people trade on it. For the most part it's a regular job.

You see, this is the bit that really irritates me. WHY do you think it’s ok for the civil service to be composed of generalists? And why do those “generalists” rely on lobbying from vested interests to shape government decision making, rather than pro-actively seeking out impartial advice from specialists?

I work in local government. In my sector, we are a collection of specialists, we make great efforts to work together and communicate across specialisms in order to provide as good a service we can under the crappy underfunded conditions we have to work in.

But rather than actively seek out information and advice from us specialists, the civil service has a culture of paying very close attention to vested interest lobbyists, and actively cutting others out of the discussion.

Today’s Gove announcement on “resolving” nutrient neutrality is a case in point. Deliberately choosing to ignore the problem of water pollution harming protected wildlife, rather than compelling developers and water companies to use the known solutions that local gov and Natural England currently advise (but which cost developers a bit extra). I guess the lobbyists helpfully advised those generalist civil servants, and they found that more useful than picking up the phone to their own colleagues in Natural England.

@nachdemregen I think it’s disingenuous to paint such a rosy picture of lobbying. That’s what I meant by naughty.

You have said yourself that it is money and resources that give you and your organisation the ear of those on power. Not the the justness of your arguments. It’s all about money - big business - buying influence.

So portraying lobbying as a crusade for truth and light is, on my opinion, a very one sided view.

ETA and yes, I have experience in this field, lobbying for an industry that is very unpopular with the public. It stank.

That’s a really good post @dontbenastyhaveapasty .

I think it’s disingenuous not to understand the primary purpose of lobbying is fiscal, even (particularly!) in the charity sector. It’s also worth noting that the individuals who hold the power of voting and vetoing policies are fallible and able to be exploited, even if it’s removed from the dark arts, Smokey back rooms, cash in brown envelopes folk lore of days gone by. MP’s are able to hold multiple work positions while in office, along with sit on several boards.
Do you believe people have been compensated at some point for their favourable ear/voice?

oh I apologise if I've made it seem like I'm a crusader for 'The Good' (whatever that might mean!) That wasn't my intention. It was more to say that it's legitimate for companies to talk to the government and vice-versa. Government is big and complicated and hard to navigate which is why people like me get employed.

I agree it's unfair that the big firms have the biggest lobbying heft. But how do you stop that? How would you regulate it? It's a really hard area.

I made the comparison with barristers above. If you're a billionaire going to court, you can afford the best legal representation. Same problem.

@nachdemregen we probably have.

How does one become a lobbyist? I’m quite a persuasive person and wouldn’t mind a career change…

@nachdemregen but your comparison with barristers merely highlights a massive, disastrous problem with our legal system - it is frequently said that justice is available only for those with very deep pockets. The proliferation of SLAPP lawsuits, for instance is a problem, not a feature that needs to be replicated in other parts of public life.

Politicians and civil servants are paid a wage from the public purse and that’s because they are supposed to act in the public interest. Do you not agree that lobbying is a means to divert decision making away from the wider public interest, toward the private, pecuniary interests of those who are paying?

I agree there's a problem, I just don't know how you'd fix it!

No, I disagree with your second paragraph. Who decides the public interest? To take the Tesco example - Tesco lobby the government so they can continue trading successfully. That in turn means millions of people get access to good value food. I'd say that's a good thing.

There are a few routes in but it is a bit of a closed shop I'm afraid.

Lots of people intern at a lobbying agency and work their way up. If you work in house, sometimes you get transferred from another company department. Or you get recruited because you've already worked for an MP, or been a special adviser.

In my case I knew I wanted to be a lobbyist so I wrote to the heads of about ten lobbying agencies (I can dig out a list if you're interested). I just told them about my experience and my interest in politics and luckily I got a job with one of them.

Ex lobbyist here and also pissing myself at this 😂

How many genuinely corrupt politicians (eg Owen Paterson) have you encountered?

Again, why? You need access to the law, you hire a lawyer. You need access to the government, you hire a lobbyist.

Genuinely none. That's not to say they don't exist but everyone I have worked with has been completely fair dealing and straight talking, even if you don't agree with them.