Six months on from the UK General Election, ukactive’s Senior Public Affairs and Policy Manager, Stephen McLoughlin, reflected on the challenges and opportunities of working with a new government.
A General Election, particularly one with a new government elected, represents a golden opportunity for trade associations to reset their relationship with the Government and approach policy change with renewed optimism.
In the UK, such a moment is accompanied not only with an influx of new Ministers and MPs, but renewed vigour among officials and all other stakeholders.
This golden opportunity is fraught with difficulty. They say you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, and this is true with a new government. It is imperative to hit the ground running, making clear that your sector will be a provider of solutions, not a harbinger of problems.
Of course, the physical activity sector is not the only one trying to be heard. As every part of the economy positions itself as integral to government ambitions, making your sector stand out can be tricky. Below are some of the ways ukactive has sought to cut through in this crucial period.
Identifying government priorities
Ensuring the sector is positioned as a provider of solutions, rather than problems, is critical in getting your policy positions to the heart of government.
To do this, we need to ensure we’re speaking in the same language as the incoming government and tailoring our asks to their agenda or manifesto.
We had already established a strong narrative for lobbying, with our tagline of ‘no growth without health’ capturing the importance of the sector to the UK’s health and the economy – the two biggest challenges for any new government at this time.
Labour’s ‘mission-driven government’ offered ample opportunity for the sector. Our ‘no growth without health’ strategy is integral to two of the Government’s five stated missions.
This provided a platform to not just engage with our sponsor department on sport, but across health, business, and others across the breadth of our membership’s priorities. Engaging with the Government by speaking its language and using its priorities is the first step in ensuring longer-term engagement.
Speaking with one voice
Even before a new Government comes in, uniting the sector’s messaging is crucial to ensure immediate access. Over the past few years, there has been a concerted effort to align as much of the sport and physical activity sector as possible.
The National Sector Partner Group (NSPG) is a coalition of the major associations in the sector and has been working increasingly closely on our government engagement in recent times.
Coordinating our approach to government with this group not only enabled us to provide united messaging to new Ministers, reducing competing noise, but also demonstrated the true breadth of the sector and its ability to make positive change.
Engaging new MPs across the board
While much of the engagement with a new government focuses on ministers and officials, the wave of new MPs provides an opportunity to create long-term advocates.
As well as the prospect of many of these new members becoming ministers in future, backbench MPs can support our agenda right away by lobbying on the sector’s behalf.
Following the Summer Recess, ukactive has undertaken a broad programme of private engagements, meeting one-on-one with MPs, providing bespoke briefings ahead of debates and questions to be asked directly to government, building a solid foundation of advocacy in the short- and medium-term.
Using local data and the power of our members
ukactive’s biggest strength is our members, located in the heart of the communities which the new influx of MPs represent. Telling their stories, and the role they play for constituents, is the easiest way we have to build real advocacy.
With support from our partners 4Global, we have been providing local data to MPs across a range of areas, from facility prevalence to health outcomes, helping to ensure they understand the challenges and opportunities in their local area.
Furthermore, we have supported facility operators within our membership to organise MP visits to their gyms, swimming pools, leisure centres and studios, and then continue their engagement with new MPs at a local level.
Working in partnership with Government
By ensuring we’re speaking to the priorities of the Government, engaging with MPs across the House, and utilising the strength of our members, we are building a platform of advocacy which improves our chances of success.
Through a comprehensive programme of engagement at central and local levels, we are ensuring policymakers and representatives are fully informed of the sector’s potential, the evidence for investment, and the role we have in our national renewal and growth.
Join us at Active Uprising 2025 on Thursday 6 March in London, where our theme is ‘No Growth Without Health’. Get your tickets here (members tickets cost just £150).
ukactive will also be hosting an exclusive Strategic Partner Group event in Westminster on Wednesday 5 March, with an expert panel taking members behind the scenes of lobbying in the UK. To find out more about becoming an SPG member, click here.
This article was published in February’s Portugal Activo.
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