The Week in Lobbying

Cuna Mutual Europe brought in Cavendish and Rain Communications to lead a campaign during this year's party conferences. The campaign was aimed at highlighting the 'protection gap' caused by the banking PPI scandal. Cavendish handled political engagement, while Rain Communications ran a media relations campaign.

City UK has hired former EE head of corporate affairs Richard Rumbelow to handle political and public policy. Before EE, he worked at Betfair as a public affairs consultant, and RBS Insurance as a public affairs manager.

Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP for South East England, has complained in his Telegraph blog that Conservatives at the Conservative Party conference are 'in the minority'. He added that 'quangocrats and lobbyists' have squeezed out party members and the 'imbalance has grown' over the past three years.

The NUJ's Public Relations and Communications Council discussed the impact of lobbying regulation at the NUJ's conference in Newcastle. Barry White from the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency told the meeting how crucial it was for the industry to take on board the concerns of the public following Leveson and 'lobbygate' to ensure reputation was improved.