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
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
We’re optimistic about the future with Rishi and Kemi
Tories can no longer be accused of being ‘male, stale and pale’ Though the Prime Minister should promote even more women and young talentSeveral supporters were re-/ elected as Councillors on May 6 Conservatives in Communications (CiC), the independent and informal industry network of professionals and students, has today published the results of its second annual … Continue reading We’re optimistic about the future with Rishi and Kemi
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 …
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
Reaction to #Budget2021
"Even by the standards of Brown, Darling, Osborne and Hammond many of the details in this Budget had been leaked in advance, prompting the Speaker and the Chairman of Ways & Means to issue a joint statement reprimanding the Chancellor. In addition, you must have been hiding under a rock not to have seen the … Continue reading Reaction to #Budget2021
Sir Keir – duller than dull
GUEST POST: Peter Bingle is Director at The Terrapin Group. Connect on LinkedIn There is no more thankless job in British politics than being Leader of the Opposition. This is even more of a truism during a pandemic when the public mood dictates that politicians put to one side petty partisan point scoring and do what’s … Continue reading Sir Keir – duller than dull
When blame’s not a game
GUEST POST: Fraser Raleigh is an Associate Director at SEC Newsgate and a former Conservative Special Adviser. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn As the Prime Minister held a sombre press conference last night to mark the grim milestone of 100,000 Covid-19 deaths in the UK, he might have thought back to when he stood at the Downing … Continue reading When blame’s not a game
Joe Biden is good for the UK
GUEST POST: Patrick Adams is a political consultant. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn Last Saturday, Boris Johnson was the first European leader to receive a call from the 46th US President Joseph R. Biden Jr (Joe Biden for short). According to the transcripts and tweets – driving “a green and sustainable recovery from Covid-19” are top of … Continue reading Joe Biden is good for the UK
2021 local elections – to be or not to be?
GUEST POST: Joshua Woolliscroft is an Account Manager at MPC. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn For amateur and professional psephologists alike, this year’s local elections – if they go ahead – look set to be more exciting than usual. Not only is this the first electoral clash between the Prime Minister and Sir Keir … Continue reading 2021 local elections – to be or not to be?
The Party and the Catholic community can find much common ground
GUEST POST: James Somerville-Meikle is a Committee Member of Catholics in the Conservative Party. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn As the dust settled on post war Britain, Winston Churchill asked Sir Hugh Fraser, then MP for Stafford, to help get more Catholics involved in the Conservative Party. Sir Hugh was one of a tiny number of … Continue reading The Party and the Catholic community can find much common ground
Publishers are investing in print
GUEST POST: Owen Meredith is CEO of the Professional Publishers Association (PPA). Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn How challenging is your new role of CEO of the PPA? It’s been a really interesting and exciting time to take it on. We all know the challenges every business has faced through Covid-19, particularly publishers, but … Continue reading Publishers are investing in print
Tinker, tailor: Communicating the levelling-up agenda
Finley Morris is Lead for Young Conservatives in Communications and is a Parliamentary Researcher In trying to win the ear of the UK government, many organisations claim that their work contributes to the levelling-up agenda. Perhaps they are right. However, little attention is paid to what is possibly the most important nuance of all, which is that the levelling-up agenda can mean very … Continue reading Tinker, tailor: Communicating the levelling-up agenda
Boris must find the bandwidth to take on Sturgeon
GUEST POST: Eliot Wilson is Co-Founder of Pivot Point and a former House of Commons Clerk. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn Being prime minister is not an easy job. Whether you adopt the approach of Thatcher’s four-hours-a-night, or Macmillan’s retreating to Trollope novels at moments of extreme stress, it is a position which occupies your every waking … Continue reading Boris must find the bandwidth to take on Sturgeon
Boris has won the Brexit war, now he has to win the peace
GUEST POST: Sir Robbie Gibb is Senior Advisor at Kekst CNC and former Director of Communications at No.10 Downing Street. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn A little over a year ago, Boris Johnson went into the general election promising the British public: “Back me and I will get Brexit done.” They did and he … Continue reading Boris has won the Brexit war, now he has to win the peace
2021: A review
Adam Honeysett-Watts, Principal Director at Conservatives in Communications, spoke to Matt Honeycombe-Foster at POLITICO about the future of the industry. The image below includes the comments that were used for his article, otherwise you'll find the full transcript as a blog post. Do you predict public affairs/comms industry will carry on with bits of the … Continue reading 2021: A review
