Adding your voice to the parliamentary mix
A workshop for colleagues working in policy and public affairs was held on 25 June 2009. Speaker presentations can be downloaded on the right.
Introduction to Parliament
Becky Purvis, policy and public affairs manager, AMRC, opened the day with a session on Parliamentary Literacy: covering the different roles of government and parliament, who’s who, how things work in parliament, how to find out information and understand parliamentary processes.
Sally Duncan, researcher to Vince Cable MP, spoke about What Parliamentarians need: giving us an insight into a parliamentarian's day, explaining the role of parliamentary researchers and how to engage parliamentarians.
Spotlight issue: Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
Fiona Fox, director of the Science Media Centre reflected on how scientists, academic societies, medical research charities and media professionals worked together to provide the right information, at the right time, in the right format, to have an impact on the policy-making process during the passage of the human fertilisation and embryology bill through parliament in 2008.
Helen Kirrane, health policy & campaigns officer and Jill Davis, media officer, Parkinson’s Disease Society, revealed how colleagues from across their charity came together to grasp the opportunity and make a big impact campaigning on the bill.
Influencing Parliament
Tracey Loftis, public affairs manager, Cancer Research UK, talked about Building influence through events: discussing the some of the different approaches Cancer Research UK uses to build relationships with parliamentarians.
Kris Verle, Whitehouse Consulting, who provide the secretariat to several All-Party Parliamentary Groups explained in Developing the work of All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) how to gain influence through running a successful APPG.
Susan Walsh, research officer, Chronic Granulomatous Disorder Research Trust, shared the perspective of a small medical research charity of getting in on the act and working with others to influence parliamentarians.
30 June 2009