Lobbyists

Lobbyists Meaning

To Lobby, is to try to influence decision-makers to your advantage. This expression comes from the fact that members of Parliament meet in the hallway (lobby) of the Houses of Parliament before and after parliamentary debates. Here, from as early as 1640, they met and received and responded to messages from citizens.

Fig. 1 The lobby of the House of Commons 1872-1873

So what is a lobbyist? A lobbyist is anyone who is paid to lobby. The term can refer to an individual or a company representing a paying third party.

Lobbyists are significant features in the UK political system as they can provide valuable information that can enrich the decision-making process with details that might have otherwise escaped the decision-makers. Additionally, lobbyists can increase the pluralist nature of our parliamentary system.

Types of lobbying

There are many forms of lobbying, from taking part in public consultations, to approaching government officials directly. Depending on its background and expertise, the lobbying agency can be seen as an "expert" on the subject. This might lead to them being actively encouraged to become part of the decision-making process on specific issues.

Lobbying can be divided into three broad categories:

• Direct Lobbying,
• Grassroots Lobbying
• and Electoral Lobbying.

Direct lobbying

Direct lobbying is when a lobbyist approaches a person in power about a specific piece of legislation while expressing their specific views on it. This can happen both in person, in a face-to-face meeting; or indirectly by phone or email.

Grassroots (indirect) lobbying

Grassroots lobbying is when the lobbyist approaches the public in an attempt to get them to put pressure on the government about an issue that favours the lobbyist.

Lobbying is only considered grassroots if it reflects a specific view on the legislation AND it encourages the public to take some sort of action to make themselves heard on the subject.

Electoral lobbying

Electoral lobbying is when a lobby group provides funds or resources for a candidate's electoral campaign. As we discussed earlier, this does not mean that, if and once elected, the candidate will necessarily make decisions favourable to the lobbyist.

Examples of lobbying

Having looked at the types of lobbying, we can now zoom in on some specific examples. While reading these, try to fit them in one of the above categories- direct lobbying, grassroots (indirect) lobbying, or electoral lobbying.

Government Lobbying

There are a number of ways lobbyists engage with the government to influence political agendas and policymakers, however, not all are deemed "proper". Below are a number of examples which document a range of misuses of government lobbying.

1994 marks an important year in the history of modern lobbying in the UK. the British newspaper the Guardian, reported a scandal involving a government lobbyist who bribed two Conservative MPs to get them to ask parliamentary questions on behalf of his client. The report was followed by a lengthy case that found the MPs' behaviour as falling short of the expectations of the House of Parliament. The case also opened the gates for many more reports to come to the surface together with calls for increased regulation.

In 2007, the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges published a report on the conduct of David Cameron's chief fundraisers as well as some fundraising event where donors were able to meet Cameron. The report found it "improper" to employ parliamentary staff for fundraising purposes. and Lord McNally, from the Lords Committee, commented on how this was:

Image Caption

^{In 2009 another important report was published. This was by the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee. The main outcomes were:-acknowledging the importance of lobbying in the democratic role as a legitimate channel for political participation and a source of valuable information for the government.- Recommending a statutory register of all lobbying activity while observing that the current status quo of the industry self-regulating was "fragmented"2}

It wasn't till 2014 that the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Unions Administration Act was passed. It is called "the Lobbying bill" for short and it imposed registration of all lobbying activity, of trade unions and their members, and it lowered the limit on non-registered third-party donations to election candidates.

This bill was necessary due to the increasing loss of trust in politicians, and despite attracting some criticism, it was seen as a step forward toward transparency.

Lobbyists influence on Legislators

So, to what extent do you think the actions of lobbyists influence legislators?

I think to answer this question we have to consider two issues.

The first one is the issue of payment. Companies and industries with plenty of money are more able to pay the (often high) lobbyist fees to be heard by legislators than the general population. This example of elitism can sway the opinion of politicians who might only hear one side of the story.

The second issue is a situation named "revolving door".

These issues raise many questions on conflict of interest at best, and corruption at worst, that need to be further dissected to know the real extent of lobbyists' influence on legislators.