Influencing power under the new Government

The new Government has promised change – and public expectations are high, whilst public finances are tight. In this new political context there are real opportunities for campaigners, civil society organisations and businesses to build connections with new change-makers and make the case for changes to law and policy that will help drive their agendas forward. This might be bringing brand new policy ideas to the new Government, or demonstrating how well existing solutions work, and could be rolled out more widely.

Our combination of advocacy and campaigning, public and regulatory, constitutional, commercial, data and media lawyers makes us uniquely well-placed to help you navigate this fast evolving new political landscape and make your voice heard across a crowded political arena.

Lobbying regulation

We regularly advise charities, civil society organisations and businesses on compliance with lobbying regulation, particularly the regime on consultant lobbying regulated by the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists.

Broadly, these rules require individuals and organisations to register as a consultant lobbyist if they will be paid by a third party to communicate with Ministers and senior civil servants. Although the rules do not apply to ‘in house’ lobbying, organisations can sometimes be caught out where they receive restricted grant funding or engage individual consultants to undertake a programme of activity that includes ‘insider’ advocacy. However, various exceptions apply – please feel free to contact our specialist team with any questions.

Following recent high profile lobbying scandals, questions have been raised about whether current regulation of lobbying is sufficient. And Labour has promised various changes in this area, including the establishment of a new independent Ethics and Integrity Commission, with its own independent Chair, to ensure probity in government. Sign up for our regular updates to keep up to date with developments.

Use of data

Political campaigning, advocacy and influence are ever more data driven. From innovative MRP polling to granular segmentation, profiling and targeting of content – it’s essential to have a strong practical grasp of rules applying to direct marketing, data processing, electronic communication and privacy protection. The rising use of AI is also fast changing both how people campaign for change and the kinds of solutions to public policy issues which might be available – although it doesn’t come without risk. Explore our AI hub here.

Our data privacy team has deep experience of advising on data and privacy compliance across all sectors of the economy, from charities, not-for-profits and the public sector to international businesses. We have particular expertise in the use of political data for campaigning and advocacy purposes, having advised many prominent political parties, candidates and campaigning organisations in this sensitive area.

Explore key resources

Data protection and political campaigning (part one)

This article focuses on the key aspects of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) that apply to campaigning using direct marketing.

The data protection considerations of political campaigning (part two)

In this article, we focus on the more general UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 requirements that you should bear in mind when communicating with individuals and processing personal data as part of your campaigning and advocacy activities.

Freedom of information and free speech

Freedom of information regulation can provide a valuable resource to support lobbying and advocacy activity. We can support campaigners, charities, civil society organisations and businesses in the use of targeted freedom of information requests and subject access requests to obtain useful information and data. We can also advise public sector organisations in seeking to deal with the requests they receive appropriately and proportionately.

We recognise the vital importance of freedom of information and freedom of expression in a free society; we also recognise that reputation and privacy may need defending, in particular against unduly intrusive reporting and against fake news.

We’ve handled landmark Freedom of Information Act cases and we specialise in new media and internet litigation. In 2000, we took the first ever case against a libellous, ‘anonymous’ emailer to court – and we have broken ground ever since.

We act for campaigning organisations, membership bodies, authors, journalists, academics, book and newspaper publishers, broadcasters and citizen bloggers – keeping them out of trouble, or resolving disputes when they are in trouble. We also assist businesses, people in the public eye and charities protect hard won reputations. Click here for more information about our specialist team.

We are also at the forefront of advising on new freedom of speech duties imposed on higher education institutions and students’ unions under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. Click here to learn more about this new regime and here to get in touch with our specialist team.

Strategic litigation

Where Government action fails to recognise the scale or urgency of your cause, or it is being stymied by entrenched interests or opposition, strategic litigation can be an invaluable part of your toolkit.

As the UK’s leading charity law firm and the first in the country to certify as a B Corp, we use our values as a compass to guide us in working for impactful clients making a difference to social and environmental issues. We have an excellent record in taking on and winning strategic litigation that has a widespread positive impact. More information about our specialist team is available here.

We acted in the landmark High Court ruling in the case of Butler-Sloss v Charity Commission, successfully allowing charity trustees to prioritise climate change mitigation over financial returns in their investments; wrote the draft legislation for the Better Business Act and have actively supported the campaign; and successfully achieved a better employment deal for some 45,000 Uber drivers with a wider impact for workers across the gig economy as a whole.

If you would like to learn more about how we can help you in this area, please get in touch with Leticia Jennings, Head of Dispute Resolution & Litigation.

Political advertising, campaign content and reputation management

We can help ensure a campaign makes its mark, without you getting into legal hot water with defamation or advertising law. We can also help navigate other regulation of campaign content – from use of IP and trade marks, to restrictions on political advertising – and transparency rules under electoral law on digital and hard copy campaign material.

Before charities or campaign groups publish articles exposing controversial practices, they talk to us. We help to ensure their reports are accurate, in the public interest, and won’t lead to costly defamation or IP infringement claims.

We also specialise in assisting clients who need to protect their reputations from often concerted and politicised attacks – in public, in print and online. We will seek to get material taken down, and to secure corrections and apologies. And if going to court is the only way to prevent publication or clear your name, we’ll start proceedings. We are experienced in tackling new forms of political aggression – from ‘astroturfing’ to the use of fake social media profiles and deepfakes.

For more information and to get in touch with our specialist team click here.

Parliamentary agency and legislative advice

We are one of the small number of firms able to promote private legislation in Parliament as Parliamentary Agents, with Mark Abbott leading this practice area. Petitioning for a Private Bill can be an effective route to achieving legal changes which affect only a particular group or individual such as a charity (or its beneficiaries), campaigning organisation, company or local council. As Parliamentary Agents, we can also support you in opposing a Private Bill being promoted on behalf of other interest groups.

We can also advise on the drafting of public acts, to help you illustrate how new legislation could help advance your mission, support work with individual MPs promoting Private Members Bills, or help with the drafting of amendments to proposed legislation to be tabled by sympathetic Parliamentarians.

More information about our Parliamentary Agency practice is available here.

APPGs

We regularly advise on engagement with All Party Parliamentary Groups, which can provide an important channel for influencing Parliamentary opinion. Many of our clients provide the secretariat to an APPG and we are familiar with advising on some of the key legal issues that can arise – from potential application of the consultant lobbying regime (see above) to navigating new transparency requirements introduced this in the latest APPG rules. Please feel free to contact our specialist team with any questions.

Election law

Elections can offer an unrivalled shot to secure support for policies that will advance your mission for years to come. Our team is top-rated in advising on election law, including non-party campaigning rules under the so-called “Lobbying Act”( the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act).

We can help you navigate the year long ‘regulated period’ in the run up to a general election, but also the shorter regulated periods in the run-up to devolved administration elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the separate rules that apply to local and regional elections.

At the same time, parties, candidates and members associations must take care to comply with rules on political finance, transparency and spending across the electoral cycle. We have deep experience of advising parties, candidates, and campaigning organisations of all types.

Please get in touch with our specialist team to hear more.

Meet our team
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