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It is with huge sadness and regret that we learned today that our great friend and associate Patrick O'Flynn had died after a short battle with cancer. Patrick was a wise and warm man and the font of good advice and support to his many friends. Not only was he clever and talented and one of the most brilliant writers in the UK but he was humble and proud of his modest roots in Cambridge and was comfortable in the pub, at a football match, listening to his beloved Jam, relaxing at his holiday...

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday outlined his five key priorities ahead of the next general election: halve inflation; grow the economy; reduce debt; cut NHS waiting lists; and stop small boats full of illegal migrants crossing the channel. "Those are the people's priorities,” he said in his first speech of the New Year, and in that he is almost certainly right. Inflation is running at 10.1% and the resulting cost of living crisis is showing little sign of easing in the short term....

Political Insight, the public affairs consultancy launched last year and comprising a six-strong team of former politicians, including former MPs and MEPs, have announced they are to begin Parliamentary Select Committee and media training. Among the trainers for Parliamentary Select Committee appearances is Stewart Jackson, the founding director of Political Insight who, as the former MP for Peterborough sat on the Health, and Regulatory Reform and Public Accounts Select Committees. While on...

Patrick O’Flynn’s regular look at the state of UK politics, written exclusively for Political Insight - Spring 2021: AFTER over-estimating his prospects for advancement, many political pundits have finally noticed that Keir Starmer did not manage to push Labour ahead of Boris Johnson’s Tories in the polls during the nightmare Covid year we have endured. Now Starmer and Labour have fallen well behind again. The Labour leader’s personal ratings in particular are suddenly under the miscroscope,...

Post-Brexit Britain opens up a whole new world for businesses. Political Insight's Senior Advisor, the former MEP and trade specialist David Campbell Bannerman, has written the short, but definitive paper on what positives of Brexit are waiting to be seized, and how you can maximise the opportunities for your business. For a free no obligation copy, please email info@politicalinsightuk.com.

Patrick O’Flynn’s regular look at the state of UK politics, written exclusively for Political Insight: January 2021: Autumn did not go smoothly for Boris Johnson, with his handling of the coronavirus pandemic seeming to conform to a pattern of opposing extra lockdown measures, only to U-turn and back them very late in the day. That infuriated both sides in an increasingly polarised Covid debate, with pro-lockdowners berating him for his tardiness and anti-lockdowners infuriated by him...

Our company's USP and therefore our new registered trademark, is Brexpertise. ® Not Brexit again I hear you cry? But hold on.... It's no longer about the battle between Leave and Remain or the culture wars which have raged since the 2016 EU Referendum. Now it's about the prospectus that allows business to navigate the post Brexit transition commercial landscape with confidence, and armed with political intelligence and data-driven risk analyses which allow the attainment of key strategic...

The UK government has announced an overhaul of procurement regulations as it struggles to shake off the recent revelations about state contracts awarded to help tackle the Covid-19 crisis. Whilst the latest contract disclosures may or may not put the government in the spotlight regarding the level of diligence and scrutiny that sat behind the procurement decisions made to source and supply PPE in particular, such an overhaul of regulations is too good an opportunity to miss. For those of us...

Many tech professionals may very well – and with just cause – eschew politics and its compromises, dark arts, and dubious practices. But they are canny enough to know that good or bad governance affects everyone. Like every part of the UK economy, the tech sector has had to adapt rapidly to the short-term challenges of Covid-19. This has meant protecting staff, nurturing clients, securing funding and cashflow, meeting potential partners and customers in a period of unique and unprecedented...

Political Insight Director Suzanne Evans explains how it works. The polls officially open today for the US General Election, and all eyes are on Donald Trump and Joe Biden. However, as well as deciding the President and Vice-President, one third of seats in the US Senate, all of the members of the House of Representatives, as well the seats of various State Governors, are also up for grabs. As neither the President nor Vice-President are elected directly on a ‘first-past-the-post’ system, it...

Scott Collins, CEO of well established procurement specialists Hawtrey Dene, who are working with Political Insight, offers his advice on optimum business preparation for Brexit post January 1st 2021 With the continued uncertainty about the result of any trade deal there are some renewed concerns for the impact on the supply chains of organisations across the UK. There are some relatively simple actions that organisations of any size can take, or polish up on, to give them some preparedness...

The latest episodes in the online culture wars saw the Co-op squaring up to the Spectator, and Superdrug squaring up to women. First, to the Co-op: an anonymous twitter account named Lisa, with a butterfly for a profile pic and fewer than 300 followers, suggested the company shouldn’t be advertising in the Spectator because it ‘funds transphobia.’ This is, of course, palpable nonsense, yet two days later, the Co-op Twitter account agreed, telling Lisa it wouldn’t be advertising in the Speccie...

A guest blog written exclusively for Political Insight by Nick de Bois, Chair, Visit England Advisory Board Most of us have at some point in our lives attended an exhibition, conference, festival, cultural or major sporting tournament. We of course enjoy the spectacle and relish the event, but few, including policy makers recognise the breadth and depth of industry behind these events. 2019 was a record year for the UK’s events sector. With a direct spend of £70 billion, accounting for over...

Patrick O’Flynn’s monthly look at UK politics, written exclusively for Political Insight  AUGUST 2020: THE peaks and troughs of the political season tend to follow those of the football season fairly closely. Everything comes to a head in May when trophies and elections are there to be won, followed by a summer lull before the onset of September puts the whole show back on the road. This year both politics and football have had their calendars disrupted by Covid-19, with elections shelved,...

In the grip of Covid-19, and in the wake of its resultant economic tsunami, British-based businesses might be forgiven for not taking much interest in the UK’s new trade deals - primarily with the EU over our replacement ‘partnership’, but also with a host of other world economies. There are however real opportunities in these new UK deals for post Covid-19 recovery and prosperity that firms should be embracing now, even if to avoid stern shareholder questions later over missed opportunities....

Residential investment specialist Richard Berridge, Director of Blackbird Real Estate Advisory, writes exclusively for Political Insight An effective housing strategy is not easy, and generally further complicated by ideologies that lean towards one type of tenure over another. Imagine a typical church organ: multi-layered keyboards, pedal board, stops, couplers, pistons, swell and crescendo pedals. Now try playing it wearing oven gloves & swim fins without any musical training and you’ll get...

Tony Glover, a former Director of Policy and Gas at the Energy Networks Association, and an energy policy specialist, writes exclusively for Political Insight on the risks and opportunities of UK energy policy When the Prime Minister spoke recently about £350 million being made available to cut emissions in heavy industry and drive economic recovery from coronavirus he was following a long line of Prime Ministers who have made future energy policy commitments with the public’s money. No other...

Boris Johnson probably didn't expect his first year as Prime Minister to shake out quite the way it did. From winning a landslide majority, to leading the country during a global pandemic, it's the sort of year that, if shown in a TV show fans would complain about too much being squeezed into one season. On this Spectator podcast, Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and former MP and director of Political Insight, Stewart Jackson, about this turbulent last year. Click here to listen”...

Patrick O’Flynn’s monthly look at UK politics, written exclusively for Political Insight JULY 2020: RECEIVED wisdom in Westminster has often bet against Boris Johnson, partly because of a personal antipathy to the Prime Minister and his programme that is widely shared across the political establishment. But as the Prime Minister reaches his first anniversary in office, the key lesson to draw is that betting against Boris has seldom proved a fruitful strategy and that our working assumption...

A six-strong team of former politicians, including former MPs and MEPs, have joined forces to launch a new public affairs consultancy specialising in government relations and political intelligence. Political Insight prides itself on ‘knowing how government works,’ and is highlighting its ‘Brexpertise,’ alongside services including corporate communications, policy briefings and analysis, and media and political communications coaching. Two of Political Insight’s Directors are former...