🧭 DAY ONE
Leading the Public Affairs Function
Day One focuses on the strategic decisions behind successful public affairs leadership.
🧠 Political Intelligence & Strategic Judgement
Learn how to distinguish political noise from genuine risk and opportunity — and decide when your organisation needs to act.
👔 Advising the CEO, Board & Senior Leadership Team
Turn complex political developments into clear executive advice:
Situation → Risk → Options → Recommendation
🎯 Building the Influencing Strategy
Decide where political capital should be invested:
Ministers • Officials • Parliament • Regulators • Coalitions • External Pressure
Develop a more coordinated approach across teams so policy, communications and public affairs support one clear organisational strategy.
🚨 THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS TROUBLESHOOTING LAB
What happens when Plan A has failed?
This practical session tackles situations that conventional public affairs training often overlooks.
What do you do when:
- the Minister refuses to meet you?
- your amendment is rejected?
- officials oppose your proposal?
- MPs are not interested?
- a Select Committee chooses another issue?
- your coalition begins to fracture?
- the political agenda suddenly changes?
Delegates will use a practical recovery framework:
DIAGNOSE → REASSESS → REFRAME → REROUTE → ESCALATE → RECOVER
The objective is to develop the confidence to answer one critical leadership question:
What do we do next?
🤝 DAY TWO
Ministerial Engagement & High-Level Influence
Day Two moves from strategy to Government and Ministerial engagement.
⭐ What Gets Ministerial Attention?
Understand the political, departmental and delivery pressures affecting Ministerial decisions.
🏛️ Getting to the Decision-Maker
Explore how to work strategically with Ministers, Private Offices, Special Advisers and senior officials.
💡 Making the Ask Politically Actionable
Turn a broad policy ambition into something Government can realistically consider:
ASK → EVIDENCE → POLITICAL REASON → DELIVERABLE ACTION
🎯 Ministerial Engagement Simulation
Prepare and test a high-level political approach designed to achieve an outcome rather than simply a meeting.
🚦 When the Minister Says No
Examine alternative influencing routes through officials, Parliament, other departments, different Ministers, coalitions, evidence and implementation.
