Category: Debate

How to write a great parliamentary briefing

Writing persuasive briefings for MPs and Peers is a really effective way of getting your message across. How do you write a briefing that’s going to get noticed?

Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

In my previous post, I discussed the value of Westminster Hall debates as a place where more considered and thoughtful debate can take place compared to the floor of the House of Commons.  But whether it’s a debate in Westminster Hall, in the main Commons chamber or in the House of Lords, you’re going to need to be able to brief parliamentarians effectively.

A good written briefing is vital if you want your voice and your messages to come across in any debate.  In this post, I offer some top tips on how to prepare a parliamentary briefing.

There are two main reasons why you might choose to brief parliamentarians ahead of a debate.  Firstly, you may want them to understand a particularly complex issue which they may not have come across before. Secondly, you may want to try to encourage them to take your messages in to the debate.  In reality, these are, of course, not mutually exclusive, and in most instances, there will be an element of both education and promotion to any briefing that you produce.  

While this post is written with a Westminster audience in mind, the same principles apply to briefing MS’s in Wales, MSP’s in Scotland or MLA’s in Northern Ireland. 

Tip 1:  Decide who you want to brief

One of the first decisions that you will need to make is who you want to brief.  Are you planning to brief all MPs (or Peers for a debate in the House of Lords), or just a sub-set?   You might, for example, only want to brief those MPs or Peers who are particularly close to your cause, such as through their engagement with an All-Party Parliamentary Group.  The advantage of this approach is that they are likely to need less education than a wider group of parliamentarians, as they are likely to be closer to the issues than most.  If you choose to brief a wider pool of parliamentarians, you’re likely to need to include a bit more by way of background and detail.  Deciding who you want to brief will therefore shape the document that you put together. 

Tip 2:   Use good evidence

As described in a previous post, evidence is king.  Whether that is hard data or people’s stories, adding good evidence to your briefing will go a long way. It will help to make your briefing useful to parliamentarians – giving them insight, evidence, and data that they might otherwise struggle to find.   

Tip 3:  Make it useful

The purpose of putting a briefing together for a debate is to be helpful to parliamentarians.  You want them to find the content of your briefing useful.  All of us are more likely to feel more positive towards something that is helpful than to something that is lecturing in tone, for example.  

Tip 4: Less is more

While there might be a huge temptation to provide a lot of unnecessary detail, it’s really important to keep your briefing as concise as possible.  It’s not an easy balance to strike, but a briefing that is too long simply won’t get read or absorbed.  As a general rule of thumb, I normally aim for no more than 4 sides of A4, and ideally less if you possibly can. 

Tip 5:  Think about speaking points

It’s important to remember that a parliamentarian is going to use the information that you share to inform what they will say on the floor of the House.  As you put your briefing together, think about the specific speaking points that an MP or Peer might be looking for, and present the information in such a way that it makes it easy for them to extract that.  I have always found that putting a clear statement down on paper followed by a two or three sentence explanation works quite well.  You might even want to put the statements in bold to make it clear that these are your critical points. 

Tip 6:  Be specific

It’s important to be as specific and precise as possible, especially if your briefing is to inform debate on legislation (which won’t always be the case).  Where possible, refer to specific clauses of the Bill being debated.  This is particularly important when a Bill enters its committee stage (even more so if it is being handled by a committee of the whole house), as debate is often scheduled around specific clauses. 

Tip 7:  Make it personal and local

If you have the resource and capacity, it’s even better if you can personalise briefings for specific MPs.  Do you have constituency data or evidence?  If so, use it!  It’ll make it much more likely that they will use your briefing as it will help them to raise a constituency perspective.  

Tip 8: Don’t forget the politics

As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s important to remember that politics is inherently a partisan business.  While most organisations will want to maintain a neutral position, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be sensitive to different political viewpoints.  If your resource and capacity allows, it can be really effective to think about tailoring your briefings for MPs from different political parties.  That doesn’t mean that you should change the essence of what you might want to say, but it does mean that you might want to think about contextualising your messages in a slightly different way.  In reality, you won’t always have the luxury of time or resource to be able to do this.  If that’s the case, try to avoid falling into the trap of presenting your arguments in such a way that might completely turn off MPs from one or more party.  

Tip 9:  Present solutions

As I have mentioned in previous posts, it’s really important that your briefing is positive and solution focused.  While you need to set out your case for change, you also need to offer up some solutions and recommendations.  Any MP or Peer speaking in a debate is going to want to make positive suggestions for change.  Your briefing can be a vehicle for making those suggestions.  

Tip 10:  Don’t forget a point of contact

It seems such an obvious thing to say, but don’t forget to include a point of contact in your briefing.  One of the long-term benefits of producing briefings for MPs and Peers is building relationships with them and their parliamentary staff.  As you build that relationship, they will be more likely to come to you proactively for advice and guidance on key issues.  Without a named contact, building that relationship is so much harder. 

What would you add to this list of tips?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

If you or your organisation are looking to do more policy influencing work, and would like some pro bono advice, I’d be happy to have a chat. Just drop me a line via the ‘Contact’ link above, or email me at hello@thepolicycoach.co.uk

Westminster Hall – the unsung hero of parliamentary debates

Westminster Hall is one of the most historic parts of the Parliamentary Estate – and in policy influencing terms, it’s home to some of the most valuable debates too.

Photo by Ali Kokab on Unsplash

When most people think about debates in Parliament, they often think of the cut and thrust of debate in the House of Commons chamber.  But there is another type of debate that happens on days when Parliament is sitting.  And those debates can be a really effective way to raise an issue and get a response from a government minister. 

What are Westminster Hall debates?

Westminster Hall is one of my favourite parts of the Parliamentary estate – steeped in so much history and national significance.  At the time of writing this post, it is currently also the location in which Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is lying-in-state. 

However, despite their name, Westminster Hall debates don’t actually take place in the historic Westminster Hall, but in the Grand Committee Room just off Westminster Hall.  

Compared to debates in the main chamber, Westminster Hall debates have the huge advantage that they have more time available to delve into an issue in more detail than is normally possible elsewhere.  They are also less combative in tone compared to debates in the main chamber, allowing a more nuanced debate to take place.  This makes them a really effective vehicle for organisations seeking to influence the policy agenda to give their issue some meaningful airtime. 

The format of a Westminster Hall debate

In a similar way to Early Day Motions, the motion for debate in a Westminster Hall debate is presented as a neutral statement – beginning ‘That this House has considered…’.  Debate topics can either be local or national issues.  

How topics are selected

Debates in Westminster Hall can be on a variety of topics.  Any MP can request a debate in Westminster Hall, and debates are selected in a variety of ways, according to the Parliament’s Standing Orders.  Some debate topics are drawn from the petitions that the public can choose to support (for debates on Mondays).  Other debate topics may be selected by a ballot arranged by the Speaker’s office (for debates on Tuesdays and Wednesdays), while the Backbench Business Committee will select debates on Thursdays. 

Work with a supportive MP

Westminster Hall debates are a really good way for individual MPs to raise issues that they are particularly passionate about.  

If your organisation wants to see a debate in Westminster Hall on a particular issue, you’ll first need to approach a supportive MP that you have a good relationship with.  You may have developed that relationship through an All-Party Parliamentary Group, via their support for an Early Day Motion, as part of your public affairs strategy to identify parliamentarians who are sympathetic to your cause, or, of course, at a constituency level.  

They will probably ask you to help their parliamentary staff to draft the motion for debate.  Once that is done, they will submit it through the appropriate channel.  It’s then a case of waiting to see if their motion is selected for debate.

Prepare good briefings

If and when the motion is selected for debate, you’ll need to produce some good briefing materials for the sponsor of the debate, and for other MPs who might take part.  

At this point, some people make the mistake of using the same briefing document for the debate sponsor and for other MPs.  In my opinion, it is good practice to offer the sponsor a more detailed background briefing with some unique points for them to raise.  

The briefing should summarise the key issues, outline what you think should change, and offer up some key speaking points.  (I’ll return to the question of what makes a good parliamentary briefing in a future post.) 

Encourage MPs to take part

You will also want to encourage other MPs to take part in the debate – after all, it won’t be much of a debate if only a few people turn up!  It’s a really simple and effective call to action to ask MPs to take part in Westminster Hall debates.  If you’ve got supporters and campaigners at constituency level, they can also ask their local MP to take part too, which will also help give them some relevant constituency perspective too. 

The debate itself

The length of a Westminster Hall debate will depend on the topic for debate.  Typically, for a debate on a national issue where there may be a lot of MPs keen to speak, the debate can last for an hour and a half.  For debates on local issues, the debates normally last for 30 minutes. 

MPs speaking in Westminster Hall debates are normally eager to bring local perspectives – reflecting what they are seeing or hearing in their constituency.  

In my opinion, debates in Westminster Hall tend to be more thoughtful and reflective than debates in the main chamber, making them ideally suited for more complex issues and topics. 

The government’s response

All debates in Westminster Hall end with a reasonably detailed response from the relevant government minister.  This is one of the things that makes Westminster Hall debates such a useful influencing tool.  The Minister will have had to have been briefed on the topic, which means that their officials will have had to do their research.  If you’re fortunate to have a good relationship with the officials, this can add significant value.  

Having a formal government response on record is incredibly valuable.  It gives you a solid foundation on which to follow up with relevant officials, especially where the government may have committed to take specific steps. 

A valuable influencing tool

Westminster Hall debates are, in my opinion, an unsung hero of Parliamentary process in the policy influencing world.  They provide space both for meaningful discussion of complex topics and local constituency issues which would be hard to find elsewhere.  They are a fantastic way to build relationships with MPs – either as potential sponsors or debate participants.  And with a formal government response on record, they provide a really valuable platform for any organisation trying to shape the policy agenda. 

What is your experience of Westminster Hall debates?  Share your comments below.  

If your organisation is looking to do more policy influencing work, and would like some pro bono advice, I’d be happy to have a chat. Just drop me a line.