Solicited advice sheet
Author: Marc Hudson
Date 29 Sept 2024
Situation
Members of [group] have a face-to-face (and online?) meeting with the newly elected Labour MP for the area on [date]
They have pre-sent [x] questions of information
[xxxx] has approached me (Marc Hudson) for perspectives/advice
Mission
MH to provide pre-meeting advice/perspectives, primarily via this document. If further clarification/perspective is sought, [xx] can ask
MH gives permission for [xx] to share/not share the document with other relevant people as sees fit.
Things the group needs to do
- Understand the constraints on the meeting
- Agree – as far as possible – what the desired outcomes for the meeting are, in the context of the group’s evolution, longevity, future actions/capacities
- Flag the dangers in the meeting (they do exist)
- Take actions before, (especially before), during and after the meeting to try to achieve the desired outcomes while minimising the likelihood/impact of any negative outcomes (either from opponent action or internal fissures/weaknesses)
Constraints on the meeting
- Timing
- Happening before October 3- Budget
- Therefore nobody will say anything
- And probably still the case nobody knows anything
- (FT and “treasury brain)
Personnel
He is not just “only” an MP, but he is also a new first-term MP
He probably has not met, at least formally, anyone in the Miliband gang, or the Reeves/Treasury gang.
The aims of the personnel
His primary goal
He is going to be keen NOT TO SAY ANYTHING
This is easier for him because he genuinely doesn’t know anything at the moment. Partly because nobody will have told him anything. Partly because if they have, it could be changed next week.
There is a battle – sometimes spilling out into public (e.g. front page of the Financial Times, literally) about public investment, Treasury brain etc. The usual tactics – reports by EY, op-eds by former senior civil servants, letters and reports from industry groups etc. There will be chaos and knife-fights behind the scenes (in the wider context of the Number 10 wars).
So, the MP doesn’t have anything to “spill”
Nonetheless, the meeting comes with lots of potential downside and little upside for him.
He will straight bat/dead bat. He will avoid saying anything that could be misconstrued, that could make it look like he was trying to make policy or promises on his own, that he was a millimetre loyal/disloyal to the “spend nothing” tendency (Treasury) or the “Spend the Lot” tendency (Miliband Tendency).
If it all goes “well” – so what, nobody notices that he finessed a group of potential trouble-makers. He will breathe a sigh of relief and move on to the next bunch of potential trouble-makers
His secondary goal will be to learn more about your group, its members, the tensions/competing objectives with in it so that he can decide how much attention to pay to you and also what to do in response to perceived threats and opportunities (cultivate, ignore, sheep and goats, whatever)
Be ready for all this
- Don’t take it personally (but this is easier said than done – perhaps role-play?!)
- Don’t take it as a sign of disrespect from him (though of course it might be that to)
- Don’t expect any promises
- Don’t expect any actual information (there isn’t really any)
Proposed (by MH) desired outcomes for the group
- Not lose the will to live while dealing with the MP (a negative goal, but I am putting it first)
- Maintain group cohesion(ish) and sense of progress/achievement
- Add to skills the group has, for future meetings with other people who will matter more (about who will organise the pre-meeting prep, who will ask which questions, do follow-ups, take minutes, be good cop/bad cop, do after action analysis, send the thank you note to the MP etc
- Maintain/enhance existing relationship with the MP
- Gain knowledge (which always has a half-life, often not very long at all)
- Use the fact that you HAD the meeting with the MP to build prestige with relevant people (other citizens/potential members of the group, local businesses, regulatory agencies etc.
Flag the dangers
Go in with too high expectations and then be disappointed/aggrieved (either at the time or afterwards or both) when these expectations are not met. MP will pick up on this, perhaps.
MP decides you are not worth worrying about and cold-shoulders you in future
MP decides you are too dangerous/clued up and cold-shoulders you in future
MP decides that some of you might be co-optable, and develops and enacts a “sheep and goats” kind of divide and conquer position
Your group considers the meeting a defeat/waste of time/energy, starts splitting on tactics.
Opportunities
Help group increase its knowledge, its shared situational awareness
You need, in my opinion, to have a discussion about what you are going to try to achieve, who is going to do which bits
Ideally you would role play having someone as the MP, dodging every question, so it doesn’t come as a surprise
UPDATE. Additional advice from a reader.
I’d add…
1) read her or his speeches in advance and work out what matters most to her/him. Find the lines where s/he says “I came into politics to…” or “I didn’t come into politics to…” and plan accordingly.
2) S/he is not that interested in you. But will become more so when you show how interested you are in her/him.
3) Practise strategic and subtle flattery. Virtually no-one will have read this MP’s speeches, so if you show you have and remember some key points, that will go down well.
4) Don’t arrive with ‘asks’. Arrive with proposals about what your agenda can do for her/his agenda.
5) Invite MP to a constituency event you will organise. Make it clear that people will be there who might increase her/his majority next time around.
6) Make sure MP has to listen to children presenting on climate/nature crisis fears at said event. MP will need to respond to them in front of their parents, who will remember the moment well.
7) Congratulate MP on fantastic performance and offer to help follow up.
marchudson.net 
Leave a comment