Public affairs and communications management

"Election fever has firmly set in - the media is obsessing over polling data; voter profiles; average national swings; and marginal seat predictions. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement, but for professional government relations and communications consultants the focus is on the day after May 6th.

It's become a truism that the next parliament will be radically different. Not least because of the sheer turnover in personnel. More than 50% will be new MPs, a combination of voluntary retirements, scandal-forced exits, and of course the predicted electoral gains for the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

But who will these new MPs be? Younger - certainly, more women - highly likely, but also; more privately educated, more union funded, more from the City, more from the military, and more from PR and public affairs backgrounds. Without doubt they will be focussed on constituency matters, keen to demonstrate to a sceptical electorate that they aren't interested in feathering their own nests, and will be tireless campaigners for local issues.

Understanding this new breed of MP is imperative. What are their motivations and interests? Are they ideologues or pragmatists? Will they be rebels or loyalists? Are they climate-change deniers? Pro-lifers? Euro-sceptics? Former-communists? The answers to these questions will play a fundamental role in future policy developments."