About Government Affairs

'Government Affairs'

‘Government Affairs’ is a term generally used to describe the managing of relations between a company or organisation (or coalition of companies and/or organisations with a mutual interest) and government. Government need not mean national government. It can be local government, devolved parliaments and assemblies (as in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London) or supra-national institutions such as the European Union. Relations with ‘government’ encompass not just contact with present ministers and their advisers and civil servants but also with prospective future ministers from other parties, and with others who influence legislation and the political process, such as backbench MPs, party policymakers and think tanks.

The terms ‘government affairs’ and ‘public affairs’ are sometimes used synonymously - and indeed most people with ‘public affairs’ in their job title have at least some political aspect to their work.  However, while government affairs is a key element of public affairs it is far from the only one. At its fullest, public affairs encompasses relations with a huge range of other stakeholders for an organisation - clients, customers, suppliers, the media, trades unions, shareholders and even other organisations working in the same sector.

(NB. While a majority of Government Affairs Group members work in the government affairs arena as described above, membership of the Group or becoming a Friend of the Group is open to all political communications professionals or people with an interest in this area (subject to being a member of the CIPR in the case of membership of the Group). See our About Us page for more information.)

What do government affairs professionals do?

Government affairs professionals are often described in the press simply as ‘lobbyists’. But the range of work within the sector is far too broad to be summed up so simplistically. It ranges from monitoring of activity in Parliament and other parts of the political process through to planning and running major campaigns designed to change the laws of the land (or to prevent change to them).

Some government affairs professionals work for consultancies, where they will often – though not always – have a range of different clients who they advise, either on an ongoing basis, or at a time of particular need, say, when the industry the company works in is being legislated on. A majority, though, work ‘in house’, either for a particular company or organisation or for a trade association, who represent the concerns of a range of businesses with a mutual interest in the prosperity of a particular industry. This could be anything from hoteliers to housebuilders to biscuitmakers.

Government affairs is far from being the preserve only of big business. Most multinational companies do employ people whose job it is to ensure their interests are represented to government – but so too do most small companies, through their relevant trade body (see above), as well as many public sector bodies, such as local government and the police. Some of the most high profile, and effective, lobbying in recent years has come from charities and campaign groups such as Friends of the Earth, Age Concern and the Make Poverty History campaign.

Government Affairs Insight - Click to view articles and interviews showing the wide range of work carried out by government affairs practititioners.