POLITICO’s weekly newsletter on campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the U.K.

By JOHN JOHNSTON

Tips, gossip, state secrets and coffee requests@johnjohnstonmi or[email protected] |View in your browser

SNEAK PEEK

— Westminster’s lax lobbying regime makes probing climate influence a nightmare.

—Labour continues to treat its conference as a cash cow.

—A new awards program offers wonks a chance to shine.

LOBBYING WESTMINSTER

TRANSPARENCY TANGLE:Influence tries not to be shy in banging the drum for better U.K. lobbying rules. So it’s handy to have a concrete example of the real world impacts the whole transparency mess seems to be having on our policymaking process. Anew report on climate policy from think tank InfluenceMap offers just that… and it makes for pretty grim reading.

Who dey?The group has built its profile by scouring through data to demonstrate how major firms and financial institutions across the globe are affecting the climate agenda. Its latest focus is on the mismatch between U.K. firms’public climate commitments — and what they areactually lobbying the government on.

Key findings: The group reckons government positions on hydrogen for home heating, climate compatibility tests for oil and gas licenses, and sustainable aviation fuel have all either been delayed or watered down after “opaque” industry lobbying… And there’s more detail on the nitty gritty on that bit fromOpen Democracy here.

But but but: While the group is understandably concerned about those policy impacts, a major part of the report focuses on just howbloody difficult it is for researchers to even attempt to untangle the extent of those lobbying efforts. These are problems that extend far beyond climate policy, so let’s dig into them.

To start with… The team crunched ministerial data to show that energy firms and industry trade groups dominate the list of outside organizations getting meetings with ministers and senior civil servants. But they also came up against thediabolical state of government data — which makes it nearly impossible to suss out what’s even being talked about in these vaguely-described face-to-face meetings.

For instance: The group found that while there were 206 meetings recorded in the last parliament under the term “hydrogen,” just a single sit-down was noted as being on the subject of “hydrogen heating.” The report’s authors politely state that it’s “highly unlikely” just one meeting touched on what is a hot topic in the climate policy space.

Remember: Post-scandal proposals to make transparency releases more regular have never actually come to anything. Instructions to departments way back in April 2024 to make a “meaningful effort” to improve descriptions of meetings appear to have been shrugged off. And despite their massive influence in Whitehall, special advisers are still broadly exempt from the transparency regime.

No rules Britannia:As the report points out, Westminster’s system “contrasts markedly” with that used in the European Commission, where not only is each official interaction linked to the EU Transparency Register, but minutes of every meeting with an official from management level up are published routinely. Be still, my beating heart.

FOI-get it:The other glaring gap is around departmental consultation responses, which despite being a critical route for organizations to influence government policy, aren’t routinely published. It means researchers are either forced to try and extract information through the notoriously poor Freedom of Information process, or look for similar submissions made to committees which — in a perfect example of joined-up politics — do publish them.

Proving the point:According to InfluenceMap, it was only through FOIs that the extent of industry lobbying on a government review of continued oil and gas licensing was revealed.

On the business end: While a select few firmsdo actually publish details of their public advocacy (read: lobbying) targets, the report argues that a lack of mandatory reporting system means there’s often a mismatch between companies’ stated aims and what they lobby about behind closed doors.

After the fact:“In each of these cases, lax U.K. transparency and disclosure rules meant almost none of this lobbying was proactively disclosed, either by government departments or the companies involved,” the report argues.

Hello darkness, my old friend: The research team found that the majority of climate-related advocacy is being driven by in-house public affairs operators or industry groups — both, of course, excluded from the current system which only captures agency activity. (See every Influencesince the dawn of time on that particular complaint.)

Case in point: Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) chief exec Alastair McCapra — whose outfit has long been pushing for a much wider lobbying register — says InfluenceMap’s report offers “clear illustration of how inadequate and opaque lobbying rules undermine effective policymaking.” He adds: “Business engagement should help to build sounder policy with better outcomes for the public, but unaccountable lobbying breeds public mistrust.”

QUICK HITS

CONFERENCE KA-CHING: Another week, another tale of Labour toutingeye-watering sums for its conference packages… with the party now offering a premium sponsor package for its “Business Leaders’ Summit” (that’s business day to you and me) at a cool £55,000.

Chef’s kiss:While the party has already increased “basic” business day ticket prices to £5,000-a-pop, my top colleague Dan Bloomgot sight of the new “lunch slot” package, which offers one lucky business leader the opportunity to introduce the lunch time session, alongside “priority seating,” imagery rights, and branding on roundtables, screens and the summit program.

As expected…The price was described as “crazy” by one lobbyist, who added that businesses have become “far more sophisticated” and have realized this is all “flash cash” that doesn’t offer any proper access. There’s much more industry grumbling in thefull tale here.

More begging bowl stuff: An industry wag told Influence this week that the party is now asking firms to stump up £50,000 to secure the privilege of being the sole sponsor at one of the conference’sregional receptions. They can team up with another outfit to “share” the cost provided each of them are willing to cough up a cool£30,000 (you do the maths). Solidarity, comrades!

CONGRATS:To all those included in Women in PR’s40 over 40 Power List, which was unveiled at a London bash on Tuesday. It’s the second year the power list has been published, but organizers say this year was especially important after industry research found nearly 4,000 women were “missing” from senior roles in PR and comms. They say agism is hitting women in the sector earlier and harder than previously thought.

That’s why… The Power List bash came alongside the launch of a new advice document drawn up by WIPR and recruitment firm Ellwood Atfield to try and combat the problem. It includes advice for jobseekers on networking, profile-raising and skilling-up. Meanwhile employers are encouraged to promote age-inclusive hiring practices and develop progression pathways for mid-career and senior women.Read it all here.

GUIDING LIGHTS: The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) is looking for new members for its Public Affairs Board — a big opportunity to help shape the industry given the trade body is doing a major review of its code for lobbyists. Find out more about the rolehere.

GOOD NEWS (KINDA): Keir Starmer’s new National Security Strategy references efforts to crackdown on foreign entities and companies acting as proxies for foreign cash to flow into U.K. elections. But actually doing anything about all this has been delegated to the Defending Democracy Taskforce … which keeps almost all of its activity completely hidden from public view. We’ll let you know if we hear anything.

WORTH A READ:The Institute for Government’s Hannah White and Alex Thomashave a blog out this morning casting some serious doubt on the government’s “heavy-handed” new internal guidance limiting the ability to officials to speak at public events. The usually very restrained think tank says the decision smacks of “overreach and will damage the quality of government and public discourse.” Read thefull thing here.

WONK WORLD

PARTY PEOPLE: SW1 loves an award ceremony, but despite the sector’s outsized impact on our political landscape, there’s been a dearth of celebrations for the U.K.’s party-lovin’ think tanks funsters … until now.

That’s thanks to… Smart Thinking, a think tank membership network, which this week opened nominations for its first wonk awards ahead of a glitzy ceremony for the sector in November. Influence cornered founder Emily Redding to talk through the brainiac bash.

Withdrawn wonks: It’s the first time think tankers based in the U.K. will have a program solely dedicated to their achievements. Redding argues the sector can sometimes be seen as the “ugly duckling of the Westminster world” (never by us, sweet and precious wonks).

Time to shine:“But actually, they do so much for policy, they’re such an engine for policy,” Redding says. “Maybe they just get a bit forgotten in the glory of it all, and now we’re trying to slightly remedy that. I think the sector is much more professional in a way it maybe wasn’t ten years ago.”

Trophy cabinet: With eight awards up for grabs, there’s plenty for those in think tank land to fight over. There’s a researcher of the year award to showcase the mega-brains who manage to produce a policy pitch that’s had the biggest splash, while think tanker of the year is open to anyone — except chief execs — working at a policy shop who has “gone above and beyond their day job to add extra value to their organization.”

Casting the net wide: A working group of assorted policy brains will help make sure the judges don’t simply toss the gong to the outfit that’s managed to rack up the most meetings with ministers.

Make your case:“The way I was coming at it initially was quite prescriptive, but actually the [working group] said it was up to the think tanks to prove and explain why they should win it,” Redding tells us. Entrants can be sharp at events, research and publications — but judges will be asking: “How have you blown the bloody doors off?”

Supreme court:Chairing the judging panel is ex-Tory cabinet minister (and recent sentencing review dude) David Gauke. He’s joined by an intimidating crop of policy thinkers, including Labour peer and broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika, 2019 Tory manifesto author and policy guru Rachel Wolf, former Demos boss Polly Mackenzie, ex-Cabinet Office bigwig Mark Sweeney, and a crop of three MPs from the 2024 intake to boot.

Thinking outside the tank: There’s an innovation category too, and Redding says this was added to reflect the “really interesting” changes happening in the sector, with lots of policy shops branding themselves as “think and do tanks” or “campaigning think tanks” and jumping on new trends like Substack and even TikTok to try and turbocharge interest. “The award is about reflecting that and trying to reward risk and doing things a bit different,” she says.

TikTank:Policy wonks killing it on TikTok? Whatever next? Redding says Smart Thinking ‘s comms network is often dominated by chatter about how to reach new audiences. “Everyone is trying new things, everything is up for grabs,” she reflects. Partly that’s because funders are increasingly starting to question how the think tanks they support can make a splash over the next six to twelve months. “I see a lot of think tank staff who really believe in what they are doing and want to get that message out to people on the frontline, and getting that more immediate impact. So, I would say it’s a combination,” the wonk-wrangler adds.

Across the pond:Redding points out that U.K.-based shops havefar fewer staff than the policy behemoths in places like the U.S. But she reckons that means plucky Brits can be far more nimble when it comes to testing new ideas. “U.S. think tanks have got so much more money,” she says. “I think a lot of U.K. think tanks have to be innovative because they don’t have the huge funding models.”

Have your say:Worked-up wonks have until 26 August toput themselves out there — and rest assured Influence will bring you the winners in November, once the fully-costed and actionable hangovers subside.

ON THE MOVE

Former Rishi Sunak SpAdJean-Andre Prager joinedFlint Global as a director.

Anna McCaul is starting as chief of staff to Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram after four years at the Cabinet Office.

Thomas Clark joinedSaffron Building Society as member communications and external affairs manager.

Caitlin Drown joinedBlakeney as a senior account director for corporate comms and impact after almost four years at The Nature Conservancy.

Sophie Fischer has been promoted to senior account manager, public affairs, atFleishmanHillard UK.

Libby Davies has been appointed specialist advisor, public affairs, at Natural Resources Wales.

Shop shakeup: Trafalgar Strategy unveiled a new partnership structure, with founderGiles Kenningham joined by three new partners:Andrew MacDougall, former comms director to Canadian PM Stephen Harper… Ex-Universal Music UK comms directorJonathan Badyal… and Zoe Thorogood, who has had stints as head of comms for Bechtel and as chief of staff at CCHQ.

Plus: Former Tory cabinet ministerBrandon Lewis has been appointed as non-exec chairman, while peer and ex-Tory Party chief execDarren Mott joins the firm’s advisory board.

Jobs jobs jobs: Ofwat are looking for aparliamentary and public affairs officer… TheTony Blair Institute has an opening for asocial media lead… TheInformation Commissioner’s Office are on the hunt for asenior policy officer, public affairs… TheNational Federation of Builderswant to hire aparliamentary affairs and communications executive… There’s an opening for aexecutive support officer at the Electoral Commission… and the Chartered Institute of Building need apolicy and public affairs officer.

Thanks: To editorMatt Honeycombe-Foster for trouncing typos. And to the production team for giving Influence some summer shine.