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PARISH NEWS: Your Influence author is about to take a couple of weeks off work, but will be leaving this newsletter in the capable hands of my excellent POLITICO colleagues while I’m away.
SNEAK PEEK
— Has Influence found the secret sauce for solving SW1’s biggest challenges?
— Another week, another grim standards scandal in Westminster.
— The SNP’s relationship with business is still hanging on a shoogly peg after their Aberdeen conference.
**A message from Barclays: Barclays is Sparking Opportunities in communities, helping people develop the skills and confidence they need to succeed and supporting businesses to grow and create jobs. Over the past 10 years, LifeSkills has reached millions of people and is helping families, young people and young adults to thrive, now and in future.**
WHITEHALL WATCH
MANAGED DECLINE: Sometimes the biggest problems do not require the sexiest solutions. Whether it’s low economic growth, failing public services or abysmal standards in Westminster — could it be that (brace yourselves) improving management skills is the key to fixing the U.K.’s problems?
Britannia chained: That’s the view of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), whose director of policy and external affairs Anthony Painter sat down with Influence to explain why bad management is dragging the U.K. down.
Study: A major new report from the CMI — including polling 1,000 of its members — found that 82 percent of those in management positions had never received any formal training, with these ‘accidental managers’ delivering significantly poorer outcomes when it came to meeting key objectives or maintaining a healthy working environment. And let’s face it, we’ve all met one (sorry, boss).
Mission critical: “You don’t have to take our word for it,” Painter said. “There is a heavy volume of economic research that the quality of management and leadership is absolutely critical to organizational performance.”
Real talk: Management skills are probably not the sexiest topic on the doorstep, but Painter is urging MPs to sit up and take notice, saying it’s the magic ingredient for addressing the U.K.’s productivity gap, delivering major infrastructure projects and ensuring the U.K. economy can capitalize on the current AI and tech revolution.
He said: “We can’t afford to no longer properly focus on the role of management as a critical part of our national infrastructure or our most significant challenges. This area can’t be hidden in plain view anymore … we’ve got to bring it to the surface.”
Low energy: The CMI have an uphill battle on their hands, with a recent poll from the group finding less than a third of MPs believe improving management practices should be a priority for government over the next 12 months.
Lived experience: Painter argues this is partly because most MPs themselves lack formal management training, despite their offices being set up as micro-enterprises — an issue often highlighted as a driver of poor behavior by parliamentarians when found to have treated staff poorly.
Reset: “I can’t help but feel that the institution itself could do with a bit of a step back,” Painter said. “It’s about delivering effective outcomes … and being empathetic about others — the behaviors that would lead to a toxic culture are opposite to the ones you find in good management.”
Missing piece: It’s not just misbehaving MPs which are the problem. Poor management skills are also flagged as a major blocker to Whitehall reform and to attempts to overhaul Britain’s flagging public services.
And: Painter says CMI data shows that “accidental managers” — a position many senior civil servants find themselves in — are far less likely to be comfortable with employing emerging tech to improve efficiency or drive sustainable change programs.
He said: “When you’re talking about the delivery of major policy agendas or overseeing enormous public services like the NHS or the police, you can see how those gaps can lead to performance which is less impressive and impactful.”
Good timing: The Times reported Tuesday that the long-awaited review of the civil service undertaken by former Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude is expected to recommend breaking up the Treasury, and give ministers more power to appoint civil servants. It’s also expected to call for the scrapping of the role of Cabinet secretary. with a new head of the civil service given direct management powers over Whitehall.
But but but: Painter warns that handing ministers more control over civil service appointments would create an “even greater imperative” for them to understand and practice good management principles.
He added: “If you are at the apex of billions of pounds of public expenditure you have a duty to understand how to manage and lead effectively. Goodness knows, we’ve seen many impacts from those who don’t or are incapable of doings so over the years.”
Opportunity knocks: But no matter the make-up of the next Parliament, the exodus of senior MPs means there will be lots of fresh faces sitting on the green benches — creating a potential opportunity for a change. “You’ll see a cadre of MPs coming in at the next election who will be less tolerant of the more toxic elements of political culture we’ve seen in recent times,” Painter said. “My hope would be they will be more open to developing their skills and capabilities.”
He added: “But I think parties, parliament and the civil service have to think about how they can equip the next generation of political leaders with the mindsets, the insight, the behaviors and skills to operate effectively in ways that can deliver the right result.”
On that point: Plenty of groups are already responding to the challenge of preparing prospective politicians to avoid the ahem turbulence that has beset Westminster over the last few years.
That includes: The Coalition for Global Prosperity, who have just wrapped up the latest round of their Future Leaders Programme aimed at priming them for the impending challenges of AI, mass migration, climate change and global conflicts … no pressure then.
Big thinking: To mark that, the group have launched a collection of essays written by a cross-party group of candidates, policy wonks and campaigners discussing everything from foreign aid to disinformation.
QUICK HITS
BONE TO PICK: Parliament is back from recess, so inevitably there has been a new standards scandal — this time with long-serving Tory MP Peter Bone facing a six-week Commons suspension over allegations of bullying and sexual misconduct.
Damning: Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel upheld five allegations of bullying, including grim claims that he “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” the complainant, “repeatedly physically struck and threw things” and even exposed himself to the staffer during an overseas trip.
Crunch vote: MPs will be required to vote through the sanction, which would trigger a recall petition which could lead to a by-election in his Wellingborough seat.
Rebuttal: Bone has dismissed the allegations of the alleged behavior — which date back over a decade — as “false and untrue”, claiming the watchdog’s probe was “flawed” and “procedurally unfair.”
Red flag The report revealed that a complaint had been made to the Conservative Party way back in 2017 — an investigation which the IEP said had “apparently not progressed very far.” Oh dear.
Worth a read: The Guardian’s Henry Dyer has a useful X thread about the questions this raises for the party — as well as for the Cabinet Office’s Propriety and Ethics team, and whether they were aware of the complaint when they cleared Bone to be deputy leader of the House under then-PM Boris Johnson in July 2022.
PACAC CACK: On Tuesday, Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart faced scrutiny from MPs on the Commons public accounts committee regarding parliament’s current lobbying rules, and the government’s recent limp response to the Boardman Review into standards. So what did we learn?
Bugger all: Burghart deflected all questions from MPs on why the government were not addressing the glaring loopholes in the current rules. And he flim-flammed on both the timeline for delivering the promised new single database for departmental transparency returns, and when we could expect those to move to a monthly reporting cycle … Quelle surprise.
TICK TOCK: It’s now been over 500 days since the U.K. government last had an Anti-Corruption Champion. That’s despite Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden claiming back in June that the government was close to appointing someone to the post … and two previous holders of the role writing to the PM to emphasize how vital the role is to helping fight corruption both internationally and at home. We live in hope.
AGENCY NEWS: Reputation management firm Lansons has been acquired by Team Farner — joining their pan-European alliance of consultancies.
The team: Said the move would give them the “investment firepower” to make them a top-10 player in the UK market, while Lansons co-founder Tony Langham said it would open a “host of major reputational briefs both here … and across Europe”.
LABOUR TOGETHER: The recently relaunched “campaigning think tank” which has developed a close relationship with Labour’s leadership has continued to grow its sway by adding a swathe of heavy-hitters to its advisory board.
That includes: Former Greater London Authority executive director Sarah Mulley, ex-Labour adviser and now APCO public affairs bod Kate Forrester, JRF’s economic and policy team leader Graeme Cooke and Cambridge political economy professor Helen Thompson…
Plus: Former Tony Blair adviser and climate tech specialist Sarah Hunter, UCL professor, former Downing Street head of policy and Demos director Geoff Mulgan, Populus co-founder and former Downing Street strategy director Andrew Cooper…
Please make it stop: UK in a Changing Europe director and Kings College professor Anand Menon, former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Alan Milburn and University of Manchester political science professor and “Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box” author Rob Ford.
You get the picture: Labour Together had a massive presence at the Liverpool conference, with plenty of public affairs pros tapping them up for the policy deets. Those latest announcements are pretty clear evidence the group have no signs of slowing down as stock in Starmer continues to rise.
SAD NEWS: There has been an outpouring of tributes from the public affairs world following the death of Lee Wright, who had worked in senior roles across the industry — most recently as director of corporate affairs at Reed in Partnership.
Tribute: Lexington director Tom Martin said the news came as an enormous shock in a tribute to his friend and former colleague, saying Wright was one of the kindest and funniest people he knew.
**Is London the land of opportunity? Discover more at POLITICO Live’s “UK Financial Services Summit” on November 9. Connect with industry leaders and gain insights that could shape the future of finance. Don’t miss this opportunity! Register today**
LOBBYING ABERDEEN
FIT LIKE: As well as being the hometown of your Influence author, Aberdeen this week had the privilege of hosting the SNP’s annual conference — so we chatted with those who made the trip to the Granite City to see what the deal was for business and public affairs types.
Stramash: At the risk of being set aboot by SNP supporters, there were definite similarities between the indy jamboree and the Tory conference up in Manchester a couple of weeks ago. Both parties found themselves reeling from by-election defeats to Labour, watched a former leader upstaging the current incumbent, fought online scraps over how packed out their main conference halls really were, and saw big business being increasingly scunnered by the whole ordeal.
Sounds familiar: The SNP conference was dominated by the constitutional questions which remain at the forefront of supporter’s minds, while the party attempted the high-wire act of trying to convince both voters and industry that they still had the bandwidth to deal with their pressing concerns about the economy and the state of public services.
Nae hoachin: Speaking to Influence, Malcolm Robertson, founding partner at Charlotte Street Partners, said: “The main exhibition hall in Aberdeen was notable for the lack of private sector presence, with only a handful of corporate sponsors flanked by party affiliate groups and third-sector campaigns.”
Aberdump: That tallies the experience of my POLITICO colleague Andrew McDonald, who reported from conference that swathes of attendees took part in a key vote on the party’s independence strategy on Sunday … before scarpering from Aberdeen before the final two days of the conference (can’t blame them).
And: None of this has been an easy sell for public affairs firms, with one lobbying-type telling Andrew it was a “nightmare trying to get clients to come up here for this” because they just don’t see the value anymore.
Keep the heid: Robertson says that despite renewed efforts by the party chiefs to fix the relationship with business — which has deteriorated significantly in recent years — it was clear from the conference that there is still a significant amount of work to be done.
Red menace: “It is also possible that the political focus of business may be shifting to Labour, even though the SNP will be in government at Holyrood for another two and half years at least,” Robertson added.
Fighting like nats in a sack: And the conference veteran noted that this year’s get-together was indicative of big shifts within the party. There are fewer kilts and flags, there is no independence marmalade on sale, and the party are for the first time having to deal with proper infighting, plotting and dissent. Good luck!
**Save the date – POLITICO Live’s event “Connectivity for all: EU’s vision for a competitive sector” will take place on November 30 to discuss the Digital Decade 2030 targets and the future of a Europe’s connectivity which meets the needs of both businesses and consumers. Register now!**
ON THE MOVE
Abigail Jones has joined EDF as head of corporate affairs following a five-year stint at Grayling.
Matthew Conway has joined Global Counsel as a director in their financial services practice.
Carmine Greusard-Deffeuille has started as a research coordinator for Labour ahead of the general election.
Cameron Stocker has joined Best for Britain as press manager following a stint at Savanta Comres.
Ben Lyons has joined cyber security firm Darktrace to lead their policy and public affairs offering.
Finn Oldfield is starting as a project officer at The Mayor’s Fund for London.
Alex Dismore has been promoted to associate director at Grayling.
Caroline Donaghy is joining Rheinmetall Defence UK as campaign lead following a three-year stint at ADS Group.
Jobs jobs jobs: The CBI are looking for a senior media and communications advisor … Breast Cancer UK are hiring a public affairs and policy officer … Message House are on the hunt for a senior research executive … The Equality and Human Rights Commission are looking for a head of policy … Universities UK are hiring for a political affairs officer … The Association for Project Management have an opening for a public affairs adviser … and Atticus Partners have an opening for a consultant role.
Thanks: To editor Jack Blanchard for managing accidental typos. And to the production team for giving it the glow up.
**A message from Barclays: Barclays is Sparking Opportunities in communities, helping people develop the skills and confidence they need to succeed and supporting businesses to grow and create jobs. Over the past 10 years, in partnership with leading charities and educators, LifeSkills has reached millions of people and is helping families, young people and young adults to thrive, now and in future. Working with The Talent Foundry, young people in schools in underserved communities will receive LifeSkills support at least four times to give them vital confidence, skills and knowledge. In partnership with Street League, sport is being used to engage young people to help them overcome the barriers they face to get into work, through 1:1 coaching and employability sessions. A new three-year commitment with Family Action is helping families move closer to sustainable work, building skills, confidence and providing grants to enable people to unlock their potential. Find out how Barclays LifeSkills is Sparking Opportunities.**
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John Johnston
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