Britain 2024: The Year Ahead in Politics 

The world is in a bit of a tumultuous state right now. Almost a third of all countries across the world (as well as the EU) are having elections, climate change is the ever-present storm on the ever-nearing horizon, and, despite it sometimes feeling like a distant memory, the world is still getting back on its feet after the pandemic. 

It’s no secret that politics is a dense issue with a lot of moving parts, and when it comes to navigating the world of politics, there is no objective right decision with any one issue, let alone the dozens that are hovering over us at any given time. 

To help us manoeuvre through this political climate, we held a webinar with a panel of political experts: 

• Anita Boateng – Partner at Portland Communications 
• Jim Bligh – Director of Corporate Affairs and Packaging, The Food and Drink Federation  
• Stephen Edwards – CEO of Living Streets 
• Joe Owen – Director of Impact, Institute for Government 

This led to several key insights that businesses and organisations can implement into their own practices to best prepare for the year ahead. 

The Core of the UK Election 

While it’s not clear yet when this election will be called, it’s likely that the main issues will remain as Inflation, cost of living, foreign affairs and the economy as a whole. 

The main issue for those running is the fact that all the issues that the UK is facing are very long term. Those running for election will need to somehow balance these long-term goals with typically short-term election tactics, and somehow frame these massive goals (net-zero, fixing the economy) as digestible chunks. 

A much harder issue to tackle is earning back the trust of the UK. Trust in the entire governmental system is at a significant low in the UK. Like it or not, elections are imbued with an element of theatre, and our panellists argued that both Sunak and Starmer need to embrace their personas, rather than just representing their parties’ policies. 

The Wider Scale of Politics 

But how will the other global elections impact the UK? The world is only becoming more interconnected, and other countries’ elections impact us more and more. 

An interesting point is that most of the elections happening across the world will have the same issues at the forefront. A lot of countries are experiencing issues economic issues like inflation and the cost of living, and climate issues are a global concern, so we may be able to use other countries’ results to foreshadow our own election. Whichever way other countries’ electorate leans may indicate to the UK which issues people prefer to put at the forefront. 

There is also a new precedent to set this year in terms of AI regulations. AI has had a meteoric rise to relevance in the past year, so these elections may be the vanguard of showing us how governments plan to tackle AI, as well as showing us how they intend to use it. 

How Businesses can Plan 

What strategic steps can businesses take to help position their organisation optimally, pre- and post-election? No matter what happens, it will always pay to be prepared, so our panellists gave us some key recommendations for businesses and charities alike. 

Spend some time getting to know people to take advantage of the churn within the government. There will be a lot of fresh faces coming into the world of politics, so there are two ways to take advantage of this: make ground-floor connections with the new ones, and forge connections with the remainers. 

Making connections with the old guard officials is essential, as they will be the ones letting you in to meet people. They also know the landscape better than incoming ministers and can help you navigate an unquestionably tricky world. 

You’ll also need to strike the balance of being present, but not annoying. Make yourself known but don’t pester them, especially during election time, when they have a million other things to be thinking about. 

Figure out what your industry wants as a whole. New leaders will be inundated by hundreds of people, so rather than using your voice to fight for your cause alone, add it to the choir of your industry, so the message is more likely to be heard. A united industry coalition can be a powerful force for change, so finding a niche and adding your own fuel to their flame can lead to massive long-term benefits.