unicornnews: What next for lobbying register?

One thing is certain about the coalition agreement between the Tories and Lib Dems: some interesting times are ahead in the lobbying sector as the debate over lobbyists being more transparent continues.

Ahead of the election politicians on all sides called for more transparency in the lobbying sector, however the Lib Dems called for a statutory register of lobbyists while the Tories advocated self-regulation. But the post-election manifesto that has come out of the coalition agreement adopts the Lib Dem stance.

This could be controversial. While there is still some opposition in the lobbying sector to even self-regulation, many key players and agencies in the industry do now back such a system to make their work more transparent. To that end, as previously reported, the Association Of Professional Political Consultants, the Chartered Institute Of Public Relations and the Public Relations Consultants Association have joined together to create the Public Affairs Council.

But opposition in the industry to statutory regulation of the lobbying sector is much more widespread, and the PRCA for certain will fight any efforts to introduce such forced regulation, arguing strongly that the industry controlled Public Affairs Council is the best solution to tackle public concern over the way lobbying works.

A recent Guardian article pointed out that, while the Tories allowed the Lib Dems to have their way on this issue in the coalition agreement, key players in the lobbying industry have direct links to senior players in the Conservative Party, and they will be lobbying harder than ever on this issue. Meaning this could prove to be one of the first issues to really test the strength of the coalition between the two parties in government.

Posted Thursday May 27 2010 by Chris Cooke

Related categories: Public Affairs