Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill — Clause 1 — Registration of Lobbyists — Wording of Professional or Consultant Lobbyists — 9 Sep 2013 at 20:15

The majority of MPs voted to refer to "consultant" rather than "professional" lobbyists in the law introducing a register of lobbyists. The intent of those preferring "professional" appears to have been to indicate a wish to extend the Bill to cover employees lobbying on behalf of their employers as well as those operating as specialist lobbyists who lobby on behalf of external clients.

MPs were considering the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill^[1]. This vote rejected a proposed amendment which stated:

• in line 5, leave out ‘consultant’ and insert ‘professional’.

This would have taken effect on Clause (1) of the bill^[2] which stated:

• A person must not carry on the business of consultant lobbying unless—
• (a)the person, or
• (b)if the person is an employee, the person’s employer,is entered in the register of consultant lobbyists.

Clause 2^[3] already defined consultant lobbying as being "in the course of a business and in return for payment" and Schedule 1 Part 1^[4] included exemptions including for a person who "carries on a business which is mainly a non-lobbying business".

The amendment alone was on the wording, not the substance, of the Bill.

MP Jon Trickett (Hemsworth, Labour) explained the intent of his rejected amendment^[5]:

• Professional lobbyists who work in-house will not be covered under the definition in the Bill, which is why we feel the use of the term "consultant lobbyist" narrows the Bill’s scope.

Presumably had his rejected amendment passed other amendments to the Bill would have been made to bring it in-line with his intent.

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill 2013-14
• [2] Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill as introduced 17th July 2013
• [3] Clause 2 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill as introduced 17th July 2013
• [4] Schedule 1 Part 1 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill as introduced 17th July 2013
• [5] Jon Trickett MP (Hemsworth, Labour), House of Commons, 9 September 2013

Debate in Parliament | Source |