Insider Lobbying: The British Version
| Published date | 01 March 1989 |
| Date | 01 March 1989 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.1989.tb00268.x |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Poliricaf
Studies
(1989),
XXXVII,
107-1
13
Insider Lobbying:
the British Version
GRANT
JORDAN
University
of
Aberdeen
While the Shorter Oxford has a bland definition of ‘the lobby’ which limits the
meaning to the neutral exerting of influence, it does cite a more hostile source
of
as long ago as
1884
which ran: ‘The lobby and corruption are legitimate subjects
for satire’. Current use of the term
-
like the dictionary definitions -smuggles in a
suspicion in the small print. It might be worth noting that this slight undercurrent
of sharp practice is not entirely harmful for the industry; after all in attracting
clients it is useful if they think that it is only decorum that stops the lobbyist from
claiming that they can provide an unfair advantage.
Is
there
a
British
Industry?
One no longer really needs to produce much evidence in support of the claim that
a lobbying industry has grown up in Britain. It is all too obvious. When the
Thames Water Authority wanted to oppose the idea of a National Rivers
Authority as part of the privatized water industry, they hired Ian Greer and
Associates.
The existence of the lobby firm is a regular feature in press reports. Again this
publicity reflects the sort of split personality of the profession. Just as it wants to
be naughty and nice, it wants to move stealthily
-
and, for marketing reasons, to
also boast of its successes. Much of the press reporting is, however, of a flavour
that the lobbyists no doubt resent. Thus the story that Charles Barker Watney
and Powell had organized a champagne party to encourage MPs to stay up for
the all-night debate on P&O’s private Bill to extend the Felixstowe Docks caused
such a reaction that the ploy was abandoned.
Who
Lobbies?
The professional lobbyist very often seems to have spent his apprenticeship on
the fringes of one of the political parties. Eight active MPs have been identified as
owning
or
being partners in consultancies.’ Many others are themselves
employed as consultants to such firms. Former MPs and civil servants often crop
UP.
The number
of
relevant consultancies is probably no more than
100
-
with
something like a dozen companies being recognized as dominant. The precise
J.
Hunt
and
T.
Nash,
‘Lobbying:
art,
craft
or profession’,
ChiefExecutive
(Feb.
1986),
15.
0032-32
17/89/01/0
107-7/%03.00
01989
Political Studies
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