Trusteeship and influencing in the new political landscape

Campaigning is a vital part of what many charities do. But the current moment can feel like an intimidating time to try to influence politics. How can boards approach this?

Thanks to the support of the Clothworkers’ Company, we recently held a discussion on how trustees should approach political influencing with:

• Beatrice Stern, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at NCVO
• and Delroy Corinaldi, Trustee of many campaigning organisations, including NPC, and Executive Director of the Black Footballers Partnership.

Our speakers made 3 key recommendations: understand the strategic political context, ask yourself 5 key questions, and have a clear vision.

(This blog is based on notes taken at the event – any errors are mine, not the speakers’.)

Understand the strategic political context

‘Trustees need to understand the big strategic picture, not just the policy detail’ was the first key piece of advice to trustees from our speakers. Two trends stood out: the dawn of multi-party politics, and the rise of global issues and local leaders.

The dawn of multi-party politics

It’s less than a year since Labour came to power with a large majority. But thinking that this means you just have to engage with Labour politicians would be a ‘huge mistake’.

The current situation is ‘economically tight, politically febrile, and low trust’. In this environment, voters are increasingly looking at more options.

The rise of Reform UK has put the Conservative Party in crisis. The Greens have also seen a sharp increase in support, and the Liberal Democrats have made local gains. Alongside nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales and the surge in independent MPs in England, the country seems to have entered a multi-party era.

This is the strategic context for any effort to influence.

Labour’s tone towards the impact sector remains positive. There is an open dialogue, including on the civil society covenant, and many cabinet members are former charity staff themselves.

But the political bandwidth is narrow. The government are looking for big change without big money. And they’re under pressure from multiple angles.

‘Think globally, act locally’

In the past, it’s been easy to just focus influencing attention on Westminster. Increasingly, trustees need to keep an eye on events elsewhere.

Global events are having a bigger effect on UK politics. The influence of America and the Trump Administration is one example, from Reform promising ‘DOGE for local government’ and bashing ‘woke’ policies.

But more fundamentally, global issues are having local impacts. This will only continue to grow. Take migration for example. Increased climate change is likely to increase refugee flows – and the impact on British politics.

Coupled with this awareness of global trends is the importance of the devolution of power away from Westminster.

Local mayors and combined authorities have increasingly large areas of responsibility. It’s important to assess if you’re building the right relationships in your area and in local systems.

Local community engagement also speaks to the wider challenge of restoring trust.

Ask yourself 5 key questions

To see where you are on your influencing journey, Beatrice Stern set out five questions to ask yourself:

• Do we have a clear strategy for influencing? This needs to go beyond vague goals to be really effective.
• Are we confident in the legal and regulatory environment? Making sure you are up to date with rules, for example around election periods. (NCVO’s guidance will help here.)
• Are we investing in relationships, locally and nationally?
• Are we listening to the people we serve? Both speakers highlighted the importance of lived experience from your users in strengthening your influencing. Their perspective makes your recommendations more relevant, and can help you connect with policymakers.
• Are we learning from what we do? Evaluating your influencing efforts is important. What KPIs (key performance indicators) are right for you to measure yourself against will be specific to the size and scale of your organisation.If in doubt about which KPIs to use, you can start by measuring how much of the ‘right stuff’ you’re doing. This includes meeting with policymakers and speaking with one voice (influencing shouldn’t sit in one department, it should be woven through the organisation).

Have a clear vision

Finally, both our speakers agreed about the need for a clear vision for your influencing efforts.

Having a clear vision prevents your organisation’s efforts becoming too tactical and reactive. For a board in particular, it provides an important grounding to deal with any controversy.

‘Credibility, clarity, and confidence is what a strong board can and should provide.’ That’s about thinking long-term and challenging assumptions.

In a time where advocacy can be seen by the public as bias, it’s vital for trustees to ensure your missions and values are aligned to what’s being said – and why. Speaking out remains important where it advances your charitable purpose.

‘Civic space in the UK is narrowing in serious but subtle ways.’ We need to defend the need to speak truth to power. Effective influencing is an important part of that.