A weekly newsletter on campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the U.K.

By JOHN JOHNSTON

Hello and a very warm welcome to London Influence, now under new management. Tips, gossip, state secrets and coffee requests @johnjohnstonmi or jjohnston@politico.co.uk | View in your browser

NEW BLOOD: Hello, John Johnston here! Barring some Truss-esque catastrophe, I will be helming Influence for the foreseeable future as well as ramping up POLITICO’s wider coverage of lobbying, money in politics and transparency.

Nothing has changed: An author with a daft name and Google alerts for transparencyrelease.pdf continues to be the order of the day, but with a remit to spend more time delving into the sector you can expect a bumper crop of scandals, scoops, and gossip in the months ahead.

Door Matt: A fond farewell to Matt, who has done a heroic job in captaining London Influence. It’s clear from all the lovely emails and comments that the newsletter has become an invaluable resource for all things lobbying and transparency — and some of you even found him funny. Probably should get that checked out.

Revolving door latest: Matt will still be editing Influence from aboard his editorial super yacht, so expect your usual pun-laden service to continue.

Big thanks: To the readers who have already flooded my inbox with warm welcomes and enough coffee invitations to keep me awake for the next decade. I look forward to meeting you all!

SNEAK PEEK

— Labour launches a monthly love-in with lobbyists.

— How to make friends and influence people in the new SNP administration.

— A Pandora’s box of lobbying, second jobs and foreign influence is flung open by MPs caught in a sting.

LOBBYING WESTMINSTER

SALMON AND SCRAMBLED EGG OFFENSIVE: Labour are ramping up their business engagement efforts by launching a monthly chat with top public affairs firms, Influence has learned, as the opposition presses ahead with their plans to let business get their “fingerprints” on the policy making process.

Guest stars: A Labour Party insider told us that around 30 agencies had taken part in the first call with Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who set out his departmental priorities before fielding questions on everything from apprenticeship levies to tech policy and R&D spending. The monthly calls are expected to feature a carousel of shadow ministers, giving agencies the chance to put forward their client’s key asks — or get clarity on Labour policy positions.

Mutually beneficial: Apart from the clear benefits for agencies who now have an inside track to Labour’s thinking, the insider said they had chosen to launch the calls following a surge of interest in their policy plans.

Just too damn popular: “Obviously it has been wonderful, but we have been getting a tidal wave of requests and people wanting to clarify different policy positions,” they added. “We thought it would be easier to do a briefing … They can ask what they need for their clients, and it is just more time efficient. It’s a good way of showing we’ve got an open door and gives people a clear path to engage with us. It was a very wide-ranging discussion.”

Tory rout: As you’d expect, Labour is spinning it as a sign that business is turning away from the Tories as the polls continue to show a possible Starmer victory. While admitting that Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are viewed by industry as the “grown-ups in the room” compared to their predecessors, the Labour source insisted the Tories have lost too much ground to make up before the next election.

And: Industry figures are generally in agreement, with businesses and consultants alike reporting difficulties in getting meaningful engagement with Downing Street dating back to the dying days of Boris Johnson’s premiership.

Diplomacy award goes to: One senior agency bod put it more bluntly, describing the current Downing Street business engagement operation as “f**king hopeless”.

Whose big idea was this? The monthly tête-à-tête is the brainchild of Labour HQ’s revamped business team, who worked with shadow ministers’ staff to produce a way of fielding the influx of requests “without killing our bosses,” according to the Labour insider.

They added: “We want business to know what Labour is going to do. It suits us to have the better-informed agencies be able to tell their clients, that’s a good thing from our point of view.”

QUICK HITS

REVOLVING DOOR KEEPS SPINNING: Nearly a third of all new jobs taken by former ministers and senior Whitehall bods had a “significant overlap” with their previous brief, the latest research from Transparency International shows.

And: The figures skyrocketed in some sectors, including defense, where 81 per cent of post-public roles were linked to their previous government work.

Toothless watchdog latest: Duncan Hames, director of policy at the group, said the figures proved watchdog ACOBA was “powerless” to stop ministers and officials from cashing in on their government experience and said a beefed-up statutory body was needed to end “abuse” of the system.

EEYORE STRIKES AGAIN: Led By Donkeys’ video sting on a number of top MPs has reignited the debate around second jobs and whether trousering tens of thousands of pounds in outside earnings is really compatible with the alleged day job of representing constituents.

Crib sheet: The anti-Brexit campaign group laid the trap by approaching MPs with the promise of eye-watering fees in exchange for a post on the advisory board of fictitious South Korean investment firm, Hanseong Consulting.

Cheap shot: Those with a low tolerance for cringe will still be reeling from Graham Brady’s coy line asking for a cool £60,000-a-year before following it up with “do let me know if that is far too cheap.” You can see the moment in glorious 720p here.

Usual caveats: Apart from some questions about whether MPs were wrong to use their parliamentary offices to take the meetings, there is no indication the conversations breached the current lobbying or second job rules, something the MPs’ offices were eager to highlight.

And yet: Not only does the affair raise fresh questions about Westminster’s flaccid lobbying rules and the appropriateness of second jobs, but those concerned about foreign influence are rightly wondering how several senior MPs could be taken in by a rudimentary website and a few fake testimonials despite the constant warnings that hostile states are actively trying to ensnare them.

Cut-through: Adopting the scientifically rigorous method of “going to the hairdresser and meeting friends,” Influence can confirm the story has escaped the Westminster bubble. Kwasi Kwarteng’s daily rate being pilloried in the barber shops of north London should be a clear warning to Westminster that the current rules don’t pass the public’s sniff test.

But of course: Asked about the clips, a Downing Street spokesperson broadly defended the current system adding they “think this strikes the right balance.”

IT’S COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE: Lord speaker’s comms guru Lucy Dargahi has interrupted her maternity leave to lead an effort to legally require cafes, pubs and restaurants to provide baby changing facilities after a grim experience with her local NCT group.

Grim: Dargahi said parents were forced to change nappies on the floor of a Hammersmith cafe which claimed it would not provide changing facilities because they were “expensive and smelly.”

Speedy result: She’s already won the backing of the British Toilet Association and has set up a petition for people who want to see “Annie’s Law” debated in Parliament.

TALKING SHOP

STOP, HUMZA TIME: A new chapter in Scotland’s history opened Monday following a major announcement from Murrayfield. After numerous rough engagements with England and a fair share of hospital passes from his own team, Scotland rugby legend Stuart Hogg announced his retirement from the sport. Oh, and the SNP elected their new leader as well.

And so: With Humza Yousaf confirmed as the new first minister, Influence spoke to Tom Gillingham, partner at Edinburgh-based public affairs firm Charlotte Street Partners, to get the inside track on how to win over the new Scottish leader and what it means for those down south.

Business as usual: While Yousaf pitched himself as the continuity candidate, Gillingham expects a new style of leadership in Holyrood — and a plethora of fresh faces round the Cabinet table that offers a renewed opportunity for engagement.

Return of Cabinet? “Under Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet didn’t have too much of a voice really, and apparently Cabinet meetings sometimes took two and a half minutes. Under Humza, the makeup of the Cabinet will be more important. Especially his choice of finance secretary, which will be the most interesting for business,” he says.

Don’t muck about: “There’s going to be a lot of opportunities to engage, but I think it’s going to have to be very targeted, and businesses, especially those who have a presence in Scotland but maybe aren’t anchored in Scotland, are going to have to really get to know these faces very quickly,” Gillingham adds.

Ctrl C + Ctrl V: Getting that right will require more than treating Scotland as a “bolt-on”, Gillingham warns, and the main order of business is swotting up on the basics. “First and foremost, it’s spelling Humza Yousaf. It was absolutely remarkable to see the number of journalists and commentators getting it wrong. It’s a bit of a flippant point but I think detail is really key.”

And: “The way Holyrood works is fundamentally different, and quite often people think they can cut and paste a Westminster engagement strategy and drop it on Holyrood.”

Send them homeward tae think again: With an entirely different voting system, and SpAds who report directly to the first minister rather than their ministerial line managers, taking on Scotland requires a more hands on-approach. And Gillingham says the temptation to farm out your Holyrood strategy to the resident Scot in the London office isn’t going to be enough to cut through the parochial media and political ecosystem north of the border.

Skimming the surface: “I always firmly believed you could do Scotland from London when I was living and working there,” he adds. “But as soon as I came back up, I started to realize I was really skimming the surface…to do it properly you need to be in and around it all the time.”

IndyRef2: After being blindsided by Brexit, businesses will be keeping a close eye on the plans to push for another independence referendum. Obviously, giving a sense of urgency to another indy vote is red meat to SNP members, and was a key plank of the leadership campaigns, but Gillingham recommends a watching brief given Scottish voters have repeatedly put the NHS, public services, and the economy above constitutional questions in their list of immediate priorities.

One to watch: All eyes will be on Yousaf and whether he presses ahead with a revamped Programme for Government — the equivalent of a King’s speech, and a clear sign that he’s planning a fresh policy drive.

HYPOCRISY WATCH

Shot: Conservative Party Deputy Chair Lee Anderson railing against second jobs in the wake of the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal: “We are paid handsomely for the job we do and if you need an extra £100,000 a year on top then you should really be looking for another job.”

Chaser: Conservative Party Deputy Chair Lee Anderson has been hired by GB News to present a new show. His register of interests shows he will receive £100,000 in return for 8 hours’ work each week.

ON THE MOVE

Industry group the PRCA appointed Richard Fernandez as director of external and public affairs, replacing Koray Camgoz. Fernandez has held senior roles with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, the Institute Of Alcohol Studies and St John Ambulance.

Aldersgate Group executive director Nick Molho is moving on after eight-and-a-half years with the climate-focused membership organization. It means the group is hiring.

Niamh Fogarty has been promoted from director to partner at Hanbury Strategy.

Flo Hutchings has started her own freelance comms and consultancy practice after six years as political director at Best for Britain.

Policy comms shop Cast From Clay promoted Anne Murray to lead consultant.

Dean Duke joined Mars Wrigley as senior public affairs manager, after a four-year stint as head of food and drink at Hanover Communications.

Sean Candy got going as head of press and media at the Centre for Cities, joining from Paternoster Communications.

Emma Eatwell joined Global Counsel to lead its global health and life sciences practice. She joins from Hanover and has held a raft of international health policy gigs, including in the European Parliament.

Former Theresa May adviser James Johnson’s polling firm J.L. Partners has hired Scarlett Maguire, who launched Andrew Neil’s Channel 4 show, as a director.

TUI head of public affairs Rosanna Turnham is on the move — and her job is up for grabs.

Katy Colton — head of the politics and law group at law firm Mischon de Rey — has been promoted to partner.

Consultancy giant APCO snapped up financial comms agency Camarco. PRWeek had the story.

Tech-focused consultancy Taso Advisory is opening new offices in Brussels and Dublin. It’s made two hires to head up the expanded teams: Simone Casadei Pastorino, previously managing director of Press Shift, will lead the Brussels operation; and Alec McAllister, formerly of Engineers Ireland, will run Taso’s Dublin expansion.

Jobs jobs jobs: Agency Atalanta is looking for a senior account executive and an account director … Trade body the CIPD needs a public affairs manager … Deputy director for strategic comms and campaigns gig going at the Department for Education … Channel 4‘s after a head of corporate comms and campaigns … the International Rescue Committee’s U.K. arm is recruiting for a digital content and campaign manager. London Luton Airport are looking for a public affairs manager.

Events horizon: Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson is joining Women in Public Affairs for their latest event in their ‘Celebrating Women of Colour’ series. Tickets available here.

Thanks: To Matt Honeycombe-Foster for not screaming “look how they massacred my boy” as he edited this. And to the production team for giving it the ol’razzle dazzle.

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