Speaking to PR Week, Whitehouse’s Director of Public Affairs outlines the consequences of Liz Truss’s departure from office on the world of public affairs and political communications. Max writes:
“All messaging and framing will have to be rethought and reset. In less than two months the government’s priorities have gone from levelling up to turbo-charging economic growth to balancing the books. Successful public affairs activity and political engagement is always based on identifying areas where an organisation’s priorities align with those of the Government, and there will have to be a rapid assessment of what the new Prime Minister’s priorities will be and the future direction of the new Government.”
Doing so will be “far from simple”. “The thoughts and positions of many of the likely candidates are well-known from the last leadership election but the political climate has changed so much in that short time that they are now largely out of date. Jeremy Hunt has already gone from wanting to cut corporation tax to 15 per cent in the summer to now committing to raising it to 25 per cent as Chancellor. The new Prime Minister will have to adjust to the political and economic reality, and public affairs professionals will also have to adjust accordingly.”
That said, although public affairs professionals should be “wary of this inherent instability, they should also be prepared to take advantage of any opportunities that arise to further their clients’ campaigns”.
“The flip side of this instability is the increased likelihood of an incoming Labour government. Organisations will always want to engage with the Government of the day, but the likelihood is that a Labour Government will be in power before too long. Businesses, especially those thinking about long-term political engagement, will want to prioritise developing relationships with Labour policymakers and there will be a premium on agencies with strong Labour connections.”
Read the full PR Week article here.
The Whitehouse Communications team are expert political consultants providing public relations and public affairs consulting and political analysis to a wide range of clients, not only in the United Kingdom, but also across the member states of the European Union and beyond. For more information, please contact Whitehouse Communications Chair, Chris Whitehouse, at chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.
