Elections are fun, but when is it time to start work?
17th Jun 2010
"The Labour party is focussed on its leadership election. An election for the shadow cabinet will follow, and then the election to decide who will be the party's candidate for London mayor will get underway. This impacts those working with government.
Public affairs professionals have usually worked with the official opposition to raise awareness of their organisation's concerns. This will be increasingly difficult if Labour spends the next six months worrying about internal affairs.
Those working in public affairs need to find a way to stop Labour MPs from focusing on internal politics and start asking questions of new government's plans. Waiting till the internal elections are over will be too late. This must be done now as decisions on public spending for the next three years are already underway.
Organisations seeking help shape the political agenda can work very effectively with the opposition. They just need to find a way to make Labour MPs look up and pay attention."