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 the latter, he famously took on Amazon, Starbucks and Google, asking direct and incisive questions as the big tech companies sought to justify exploiting every tax loophole available to them.
“Appearing before a Parliamentary Select Committee is likely to be one of the most gruelling and nerve-racking challenges you will ever face,” Stewart says.” These are high level, high risk appearances that put you and your organisation right in the firing line. Knowing what you will be up against and having the opportunity to practise your appearance really matters”.
Media training will be conducted by Patrick O’Flynn, the former MEP and Political Editor of the Daily Express; Suzanne Evans, the former broadcaster and one-time deputy chair of UKIP, recognised for her polished TV appearances, and Trevor Barnes, a veteran radio journalist and established media trainer.
“When you get the call from Newsnight, when your brand reputation is in trouble, or when you’ve had a bad media experience, it’s too late to start thinking about how to deal with the fallout,” Suzanne Evans says. “As I know from my time in politics, and being on the interviewee side of the microphone, trying to ‘wing it’ simply isn’t a viable option unless you want to court disaster. Our training takes you through every media scenario you are likely to face, equipping you with the skills you need to survive with aplomb”. -ENDS-