The public policy campaign is a strange beast. On one end of the spectrum it can be run by big corporations with huge budgets and expensive public affairs consultants and on the other end it can be run by a small group of citizens or a voluntary organisation on a very tight budget. This usually means that the ways in which people seek to influence Members of Parliament (MPs) vary widely – without necessarily meaning that the expensive campaign is a good campaign.
So it should come as no surprise that sometimes MPs get really fed up with lobbyists. Some really embarrassing examples are contained in The Insight Public Affairs Guide to Lobbying. (Get your free copy from guidetolobbying@insightpa.com or visit their website to download it)
Shadow Europe minister Mark Francois, Liberal Democrat youth spokesperson Lynne Featherstone, Labour MSP George Foulkes and Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff Karen Tramontano are among those to speak out. Foulkes is heavily critical of the Countryside Alliance’s lobbying against a ban on fox-hunting.
He writes: ‘Along with most other Labour MPs, I encountered the most counter- productive campaign ever experienced by the Countryside Alliance. The abuse was almost as vitriolic as Labour representatives now experience from the SNP’s cybernats with little pretence to logic….
from Brand Republic
Yes… I guess you know you’re doing something wrong when they feel abused.
I meet MPs from time to time in my 9 to 5 and it’s always a surprise when I realise they don’t know everything. Somehow we are expecting them to be instant experts (even Public Affairs people like my self). Well, they are not and some that I have met lately are brave enough to say so and to ask for more information.
Actually talking to them like a normal person (instead of sounding like I’ve swallowed my briefing) works for me on most occasions. I find lobbying is very much like pitching. You get more results if you’re open and honest.
What about you? Any bad experiences when lobbying of pitching?
