News - Reports

Speaker meeting with Paul Richards MCIPR, Special Adviser to the Chair of the Labour Party

Wednesday 21 June 2006

Paul Richards was Special Adviser to Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt when he agreed to speak to June's CIPR Government Affairs Group meeting, but by the time the meeting arrived he had moved on to become Special Adviser to the new Labour Party Chair, Hazel Blears.

Paul began his talk by taking his audience through the course of his day on that particular day, from early morning phone calls from his boss, through juggling calls from journalists and others and a wide range of meetings, to that evening's meeting and a further event later on. A central message was that if organisations want to be heard by special advisers and their ministers they need to have a message that offers something positive for the government in terms of delivering its goals, and they need to deliver it in an efficient and succinct way, as time is at a premium.

Like the previous month's speaker, Howell James, Paul spoke about the interaction between special advisers and civil servants. He also addressed wider political issues such as the Government's response to David Cameron and the future direction of the Government.