Fishburn Hedges

Holly Rouse

The Coalition’s commitment to greater transparency started positively enough with a flurry of public consultation appeals appearing on nearly every government website, such as the Treasury's 'Spending Challenge'.Yet attempts to "crowd-source" policy are being seriously questioned. Ministers have already been accused of rejecting every idea put forward on the Coalitions' new programme. The govern...

Andrew Lewin

In the heady days of late April and early May, the political world was easy to understand and even simpler to communicate.  You didn’t need a PR professional to tell you that David Cameron and Nick Clegg were sworn enemies, they led two political parties locked in a century long power struggle and were less than glowing about each other on a personal level.  Our new PM famously called his Dep...

Guy Corbet

Ten years ago Big Brother burst onto our screens with the promise of instant celebrity for anyone who could hold the audience's attention long enough for them to cast a vote.  "Nasty Nick" Bateman was its first tabloid hero, catapulted to fame on the back of his mischievous intrigues.  Jade Goody followed.  To maintain interest as the novelty wore thin, successive series had to court controvers...

Paul Sweetman

Who would be a Labour party manager right now? Just when they are trying to convince members and employees to re-unite and make a fresh start, they face a barrage of revelations from the memoirs of former leading lights. These could really threaten the party’s credibility, at a time when renewed common purpose and unity is required to strengthen credibility.  There are strong parallels for the ...

Ian Fannon

There was no surer sign of the times than the announcement today that the Government is planning to axe three quarters of its 820 websites.It’s not surprising news, especially to those of us who have worked with Government departments over recent years and witnessed their unswerving commitment to rationalising the Government’s online presence. Such a cull represents an easy win in the battle t...

John Williams is a founder of Fishburn Hedges

Do you remember Tony Blair's "Big Tent"? It was a way of describing an all-inclusive, everyone-likes-me, pre-coalition way of governing; it lasted a long while, before becoming, under Gordon, "goats" (government of all the talents) which was a ruse for bringing outsiders into the bear trap of government in return for a bit of ermine and a brief headline. The talented ones baulked most and baled f...

Paul Sweetman

The last week has seen one of the most rapidly-assembled mergers in living memory, with the political marriage of convenience between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, celebrated today with the publication of its programme for government.  However, while it all seems rosy now, the litany of failed mergers in the corporate world suggests there may be trouble ahead. Lessons from businessSpeech...

Rob O'Halloran

Hung parliaments are rare beasts. Because the swing in key marginals is difficult to predict many commentators aren’t yet clear about the number of seats that will change hands at this election. Polls suggest a shift in voting intention but it’s hard to call a decisive majority for the Conservatives at this stage.We are almost certainly closer to a hung parliament than we have been since the e...

Rory Scanlan

Rory Scanlan, director of Fishburn Hedges, gave his thoughts on the 2010 general election recently in a 'soap box' article published in PR Week.It’s easy to forget how brutal British politics can be. Nowhere is this seen more vividly than when a defeated PM is turfed out of No10 within hours of the polls closing.In many countries a change of administration is a more orderly process. US Preside...