In politics, lobbying, or advocacy, is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies, but also judges of the judiciary. Lobbying, which usually involves direct, face-to-face contact in cooperation with support staff that may not meet directly face-to-face, is done by many types of people, associations and organized groups, including individuals on a personal level in their capacity as voters, constituents, or private citizens; it is also practiced by corporations in the private sector serving their own business interests; by non-profits and non-governmental organizations in the voluntary sector through advocacy groups to fulfil their mission such as requesting humanitarian aid or grantmaking; and by fellow legislators or government officials influencing each other through legislative affairs in the public sector.
In the United Kingdom, the Electoral Commission is the national election commission, created in 2001 as a result of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. It is an independent agency that regulates party and election finance and sets standards for how elections should be run.
Charles Henry John Benedict Crofton Chetwynd Chetwynd-Talbot, 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury, 22nd Earl of Waterford, 7th Earl Talbot,, styled Viscount Ingestre until 1980, is an English nobleman and the Lord High Steward of Ireland. He is the premier earl in the Peerage of England as the Earl of Shrewsbury, and in the Peerage of Ireland as the Earl of Waterford (1446). He also holds the titles of Earl Talbot and Baron Talbot.
An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) is a technical group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that is composed of members of parliament from all political parties, but have no official status within Parliament.
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is a professional body in the United Kingdom for public relations practitioners. Founded as the Institute for Public Relations in 1948, CIPR was awarded Chartered status by the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 2005 and added "Chartered" to its name. As of late 2012, CIPR had 10,095 members. The association provides training and education, publishes a code of conduct and hosts awards and events. It is governed by a board of directors led by a president who is elected each year.
The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 was legislation in the United States aimed at bringing increased accountability to federal lobbying practices in the United States. The law was amended substantially by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007. Under provisions which took effect on January 1, 1996, federal lobbyists are required to register with the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and the Secretary of the United States Senate. Anyone failing to do so is punishable by a civil fine of up to $50,000. The clerk and secretary must refer any acts of non-compliance to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The fossil fuels lobby includes paid representatives of corporations involved in the fossil fuel industry, as well as related industries like chemicals, plastics, aviation and other transportation. Because of their wealth and the importance of energy, transport and chemical industries to local, national and international economies, these lobbies have the capacity and money to attempt to have outsized influence on governmental policy. In particular, the lobbies have been known to obstruct policy related to environmental protection, environmental health and climate action.
In politics, a revolving door can refer to two distinct phenomena.
Lobbying in the United Kingdom plays a significant role in the formation of legislation and a wide variety of commercial organisations, lobby groups "lobby" for particular policies and decisions by Parliament and other political organs at national, regional and local levels.
Public affairs generally refers to the engagement efforts between organizations, often times in the context of building business or governmental relationships. The industry has developed over recent years and is normally considered a branch or sub-discipline of public relations (PR). Having such a broad range of coverage regarding its definition, public affairs is, by nature, a hybrid of disciplines that relies heavily on strategic communication. While often equated with lobbying, this is usually only a small part of what a public affairs practitioner might do. Other typical functions include research, strategy planning and providing advice. Dr. Juan-Carlos Molleda writes, “Many types of organizations virtually and physically interact and communicate with publics and/or audiences outside of their own country of origin to build a dynamic set of relationships. Trade, direct foreign investment, political coalitions, worthy global causes, information flow, and social networking, among other phenomena, are increasing the complexity of those relationships dramatically”.
Stephen Anthony McPartland is a British Conservative Party politician and business consultant. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stevenage from 2010 to 2024, briefly serving as a minister in 2022.
Thomas Docherty is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline and West Fife from 2010 until 2015.
A private company limited by shares is a class of private limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Hong Kong, Northern Ireland, Scotland, certain Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareholders with limited liability and its shares may not be offered to the general public, unlike those of a public limited company.
The UK Public Affairs Council (UKPAC) was a United Kingdom organisation enabling self-regulation of individuals engaged in UK lobbying activities.
The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom introduced in July 2013. The bill was sponsored by the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). It was often referred to as "The Lobbying Bill" for short. It passed all parliamentary stages, and received royal assent on 30 January 2014.
A Lobby Registry, also named Lobbyist Registry, Register for Lobby Transparency or Registry of Lobbyists is a public database, in which information about lobbying actors and key data about their actions can be accessed.
The American Anti-Corruption Act (AACA), sometimes shortened to Anti-Corruption Act, is a piece of model legislation designed to limit the influence of money in American politics by overhauling lobbying, transparency, and campaign finance laws. It was crafted in 2011 "by former Federal Election Commission chairman Trevor Potter in consultation with dozens of strategists, democracy reform leaders and constitutional attorneys from across the political spectrum," and is supported by reform organizations such as Represent.Us, which advocate for the passage of local, state, and federal laws modeled after the AACA. It is designed to limit or outlaw practices perceived to be major contributors to political corruption.
Lobbying in the European Union, also referred to officially as European interest representation, is the activity of representatives of diverse interest groups or lobbies who attempt to influence the executive and legislative authorities of the European Union through public relations or public affairs work. The Treaty of Lisbon introduced a new dimension of lobbying at the European level that is different from most national lobbying. At the national level, lobbying is more a matter of personal and informal relations between the officials of national authorities, but lobbying at the European Union level is increasingly a part of the political decision-making process and thus part of the legislative process. 'European interest representation' is part of a new participatory democracy within the European Union. The first step towards specialised regulation of lobbying in the European Union was a Written Question tabled by Alman Metten, in 1989. In 1991, Marc Galle, Chairman of the Committee on the Rules of Procedure, the Verification of Credentials and Immunities, was appointed to submit proposals for a Code of conduct and a register of lobbyists. Today lobbying in the European Union is an integral and important part of decision-making in the EU. From year to year lobbying regulation in the EU is constantly improving and the number of lobbyists is increasing.
Lobbying in Canada is an activity where organizations or people outside of government attempt to influence the decision making of elected politicians or government officials at the municipal, provincial or federal level.
A permanent under-secretary of state, known informally as a permanent secretary, is the most senior civil servant of a ministry in the United Kingdom, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis. Similar offices, often employing different terms, exist in many other Westminster-style systems and in some other governments. In the United States, the equivalent position is a Deputy Secretary of an executive department, though British permanent secretaries are career civil servants.
