General Election 2024: How businesses can win the ear of politicians as campaigning begins

As we all know now, the UK’s General Election will take place on July 4.

Yorkshire businesses will need to think carefully over the coming weeks and months about their response to these new political environments, especially if they are already regularly engaging with political stakeholders.

Understanding changes to the political landscape and factoring developments will be important to inform decisions like whether to change course on previously stated commitments or considering avenues for engagement.

Change also represents opportunity, with many businesses now given a fresh chance for new introductions and general political engagement.

Whether experienced or new to the world of corporate affairs, the following themes should be central to businesses looking to engage in 2024.

Rethink engagement strategies

More targeted and varied public affairs interventions will be critical for businesses in 2024 and beyond. The year ahead promises to be one of the busiest ever from a government relations and public affairs perspective, across dozens of government departments and local authorities. The time and attention of stakeholders will be in short supply, so those that use it carefully and with a clear strategy at the forefront of activity will be rewarded.

Reassess Success

From a media coverage perspective, politics and political issues naturally dominate the news agenda, but we can expect a high-water mark in coverage over the coming year. There may be less opportunity to penetrate on issues that editors consider non-priority topics.

Organisations centred on issues that fall outside the political arena will need to work hard to get attention. Performance indicators should be reassessed, internally communicated within organisations, and agreed at a leadership level.

Tool-up

Keeping across upcoming election developments and the subsequent implications for business will be critical but, depending on the size of the task, likely to prove challenging without extra support and resources.

As a priority, organisations should consider additional investment in political intelligence and strategic guidance for 2024, whether internal or outsourced.

Opportunities for Yorkshire

The coming months present a golden opportunity for businesses across the Yorkshire region of all sizes to tell their stories and share their concerns with political stakeholders. Yorkshire has always been a natural home for collaboration, whether this is in evolving tech, innovative manufacturing or developing infrastructure. The desire to support local industries is there at multiple levels, the challenge now is communicating clearly.

Katie Eborall is Head of Grayling North,