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
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 …
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
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
“I’ll never be neutral on the Union.” Prove it!
GUEST POST: Timothy McLean is a Parliamentary Researcher. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn “I'll never be neutral on the Union” – the familiar battle cry we hear every time a new Northern Ireland Secretary takes up residence in Stormont House. It’s time they showed some teeth... Boris Johnson is the first British Prime Minister since the Act of Union in 1801 to erect internal trade barriers … Continue reading “I’ll never be neutral on the Union.” Prove it!
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
Singapore-on-Thames: why is this a bad idea?
GUEST POST: Tony Freeman is a Freelance Thought Leadership Consultant specialising in financial technology. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn Shortly after the 2016 EU referendum, I visited Singapore to meet-up with clients and colleagues in my role as Brexit policy manager for a large US-headquartered global financial services firm. I offered to deliver a briefing for the local team and was greeted … Continue reading Singapore-on-Thames: why is this a bad idea?
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
Why doesn’t the BBC give reporters a by-line?
GUEST POST: Mo Metcalf-Fisher is Head of Press at the Countryside Alliance. Follow on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn It’s easy to get frustrated, but after a few months on the job you quickly get used to it. The main reason for this is that you learn the quickest and easiest way of addressing a problem … Continue reading Why doesn’t the BBC give reporters a by-line?
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
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