2021-22 PARTICIPANTS Aimée Horwood, Senior Account Manager at BCW Global, has been paired with Jessica Goodrum, Head of Public Affairs at Hanover. Alexandra Hancock, Political Engagement Manager at Dods, was matched with Seena Shah, Head of Marketing & Communications at Harland & Wolff. Chris Poray, Communications & Outreach Intern (ESA Telecommunications and Integrated Applications) at … Continue reading Meet the matches
CiC-Start – 12 months on
Tom Martin is Executive Director at Quatro and Oliver Hazell is Account Director at Cavendish Advocacy. Tom LinkedIn and Twitter. Oli LinkedIn As CiC launches the next round of its CiC-Start mentoring scheme, we wanted to reflect on our experience as part of first round of the scheme. We were matched due to a mutual … Continue reading CiC-Start – 12 months on
Your conference guide and checklist
Adam Honeysett-Watts is Executive Director at Conservatives in Communications, Co-Chair of the PRCA Corporate Group and Founder & Director at do Different. Non politicos are always baffled about party conferences. "Why bother with them?" they ask. Whether it's for fun, work, to learn, to advance your political career, a combination of these or all the above, party conferences are essentially … Continue reading Your conference guide and checklist
Winning elections in a pandemic
Alex Walker is Director at Mercury Public Affairs and is Leader of the Milton Keynes Conservatives Group. Follow on Twitter The Covid-19 pandemic has had an intriguing impact on election results around the world. Some incumbents have stormed home, others have struggled, and some have lost to successful challengers. I have been lucky over the … Continue reading Winning elections in a pandemic
How we’ll support female Tories in Comms
Jessica Webb is CiC Women's Lead and Member of the Women in Public Affairs Executive Committee The pandemic has been devastating and had huge implications for everyone’s lives. We have lacked opportunities to build the vital relationships we rely on to do our jobs and missed our friends. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait … Continue reading How we’ll support female Tories in Comms
In conversation with three mentees
Emily Carter What’s your current role? Head of Political Campaigns. What do you want to achieve from the CiC-Start mentoring programme? I saw CiC-Start as an opportunity to speak to someone outside of my current network who has experience in the industry, working together to draw on and progress my career and understanding of public affairs (or … Continue reading In conversation with three mentees
Pride is a golden opportunity to keep the torch of liberty burning bright
Pierre Andrews is Vice-Chair Outreach of LGBT+ Conservatives, Head of Policy at Digital Tories, Senior Parliamentary Assistant to an MP and a CiC-Start Mentee. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn June is Pride Month. A yearly opportunity to freely express and celebrate the strength and diversity of the whole LGBT+ community. However, Pride isn’t just … Continue reading Pride is a golden opportunity to keep the torch of liberty burning bright
Enfranchise expatriate Scots!
Lionel Zetter is Patron of Conservatives in Communications and is Author of ‘Lobbying: The Art of Political Persuasion’. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn If Swedes, Spaniards and Singaporeans are to be offered a vote in a future referendum on Scottish independence, why aren’t expatriate Scots? The failure of the SNP to achieve a majority in last month’s Holyrood elections has not stopped them … Continue reading Enfranchise expatriate Scots!
Digital campaigning has never been more important
Holly Whitbread is the Conservative Essex County Councillor for Epping & Theydon Bois and Epping Forest District Councillor for Epping Lindsey and Thornwood Common. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn In a Covid world, digital campaigning has never been more important, as was demonstrated in the recent local elections. Whilst social platforms did not paint … Continue reading Digital campaigning has never been more important
What happens next: The battle for Britain
GUEST POST: Katie Frank is a Consultant at Portland Communications. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn We have been living through a constitutional cold war, with a political stalemate between Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon over an independence referendum. But as Bute House and Downing Street wait on tenterhooks for the results of the Scottish Parliament election, … Continue reading What happens next: The battle for Britain
The capital should have its own diplomats in every UK embassy
GUEST POST: Eliot Wilson is Co-Founder of Pivot Point and a former House of Commons Clerk. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn British embassies around the world run the whole gamut. From No. 35, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré to Level 19 of the Shangri-La Offices in Ulaanbataar, they look different but all have the same purpose: to maintain … Continue reading The capital should have its own diplomats in every UK embassy
Time to get brutal …
GUEST POST: Peter Bingle is Director at The Terrapin Group. Connect on LinkedIn There have always been bitter rivalries within government. In Tudor times it was Thomas Cromwell versus Thomas More. In more modern times it was Alastair Campbell versus Charlie Whelan. And now it seems (unbelievably) to be Carrie Symonds versus Dominic Cummings. How did it come … Continue reading Time to get brutal …
Second network survey
Today, we are pleased to launch our second network survey – Conservatives in Communications (CiC) Census 2021 – and invite all supporters to participate! This is your once-a-year opportunity to provide feedback, so we can better serve you and add more value going forward. With many thanks to Hanover Communications for sponsoring and to POLITICO London Influence for agreeing to publish … Continue reading Second network survey
Northern Ireland needs real leadership, not soundbites
GUEST POST: Timothy McLean is a Parliamentary Researcher. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and the structures envisaged therein were premised on the understanding that cross community consent would be required for all important and controversial decisions. Throughout the Brexit process, the Conservative administration and the EU were at pains to point out their unwavering support … Continue reading Northern Ireland needs real leadership, not soundbites
The curse of the humiliating photo shot
GUEST POST: Peter Bingle is Director at The Terrapin Group. Connect on LinkedIn There appears to be a modern curse which afflicts senior Labour politicians. They are caught on camera doing something so stupid that it remains etched forever in the minds of voters. It is the curse of the humiliating photo shot. Neil Kinnock famously stumbled … Continue reading The curse of the humiliating photo shot
Scottish Tories need to save their campaign to save the Union
GUEST POST: Katie Frank is a Consultant at Portland Communications. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn Over 700 years have passed since the Scottish Wars of Independence. While ballots, not battles, is now how Scotland decides its future, one thing is for certain: nothing, not even a pandemic, can shake the insatiable appetite Scotland has … Continue reading Scottish Tories need to save their campaign to save the Union
Levelling-up needs a brand
Finley Morris is Lead for Young Conservatives in Communications “The government’s communications needed a clearer strategy and more coherent messaging” – that’s according to a new report published by the Institute for Government (IFG), which identifies 10 key lessons for the government’s strategy exactly a year after the first nationwide lockdown. I would go a step further … Continue reading Levelling-up needs a brand
Delivering bad news
Adam Honeysett-Watts is Principal Director at Conservatives in Communications, Co-Chair of the PRCA Corporate Group and Founder & Director at do Different. I recently hosted an event for the PRCA Corporate Group, where we discussed 'delivering bad news'. With many thanks to two of my clients: Aisha Cuthbert, Head of Communications at One Housing, and Andy Taylor, Head … Continue reading Delivering bad news
Conservatives must never be complacent about Starmer
GUEST POST: Robert Halfon is MP for Harlow. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn Is Keir Starmer doing that badly? I don’t want to rain on the parade of opinion poll Tory leads of anything from four to 13 per cent. Of course, it is far better to be in this position than trailing behind … Continue reading Conservatives must never be complacent about Starmer
It is time to get tough with the social media giants
GUEST POST: Maria Miller is a former Culture Secretary and is MP for Basingstoke. Follow on Twitter I want 2021 to be the year that we finally grasp the nettle of online abuse – to create a safer, more respectful online environment, that will lead to a kinder politics too. The need has never been … Continue reading It is time to get tough with the social media giants
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