Difference between revisions of "Patricia Hewitt"
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| − | In the ''Dispatches'' programme ‘Politicians for Hire’, broadcast on 22 March 2010, Dispatches set up a fictional US public affairs company and contacted Hewitt and several senior politicians and asked them if they were interested in a position on the advisory board in their London office. Hewitt attended a bogus interview and outlined to the undercover reporter five ways in which corporations could gain access to a serving Minister of State: | + | In the ''Dispatches'' programme ‘Politicians for Hire’, broadcast on 22 March 2010, ''Dispatches'' set up a fictional US public affairs company and contacted Hewitt and several senior politicians and asked them if they were interested in a position on the advisory board in their London office. Hewitt attended a bogus interview and outlined to the undercover reporter five ways in which corporations could gain access to a serving Minister of State: |
<blockquote style="background-color:ivory;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%;font-size:10pt">'''(1) Wining and dining'''<p>“You know when I was Business Secretary I would cheerfully accept hospitality initiations, for instance, because it was just a really useful way of getting to know business leaders rather better. [[Gordon Brown|Gordon]] is pretty against all of that.”</p><p>'''(2) The think-tank route'''</p><p>“Now the think tank and the seminar route I think is a very good one and will remain a good one and so identifying the right think-tank. [[Policy Exchange]] is a good one at the moment, [[Demos]] is another good one and saying ok does that think tank already have a relationship with Minister X? Can we invite Minister X to give a seminar on this subject, your client would then sponsor the seminar and you do it via the think-tank. And that’s very useful, because what you get for your sponsorship is basically you sit next to the Minister.”</p><p>'''(3) Sponsor a Party Conference event'''</p><p>“Is a classic one, increasingly crowded for the [[Conservative Party|Conservatives]] at the moment. A bit un-crowded for [[Labour Party|Labour]] last year, it used to be the reverse.”</p><p>'''(4) Direct invitation'''</p><p>Sometimes you know just a direct invitation to have you know we want to come and see you about X will sometimes work.</p><p>'''(5) Establish a presence in the Minister’s constituency'''</p><p>So depending on the company if they’ve got a presence in some part of the country or there’s some link and then that fits with where roughly speaking where a Minister’s constituency is … that can be a more subtle route in … and doesn’t get trapped by the officials. <ref>Patricia Hewitt. Interview. In: ''Dispatches'', ‘Politicians for Hire’, Channel 4, 22 March 2010, 20:00 hrs.</ref></p></blockquote> | <blockquote style="background-color:ivory;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%;font-size:10pt">'''(1) Wining and dining'''<p>“You know when I was Business Secretary I would cheerfully accept hospitality initiations, for instance, because it was just a really useful way of getting to know business leaders rather better. [[Gordon Brown|Gordon]] is pretty against all of that.”</p><p>'''(2) The think-tank route'''</p><p>“Now the think tank and the seminar route I think is a very good one and will remain a good one and so identifying the right think-tank. [[Policy Exchange]] is a good one at the moment, [[Demos]] is another good one and saying ok does that think tank already have a relationship with Minister X? Can we invite Minister X to give a seminar on this subject, your client would then sponsor the seminar and you do it via the think-tank. And that’s very useful, because what you get for your sponsorship is basically you sit next to the Minister.”</p><p>'''(3) Sponsor a Party Conference event'''</p><p>“Is a classic one, increasingly crowded for the [[Conservative Party|Conservatives]] at the moment. A bit un-crowded for [[Labour Party|Labour]] last year, it used to be the reverse.”</p><p>'''(4) Direct invitation'''</p><p>Sometimes you know just a direct invitation to have you know we want to come and see you about X will sometimes work.</p><p>'''(5) Establish a presence in the Minister’s constituency'''</p><p>So depending on the company if they’ve got a presence in some part of the country or there’s some link and then that fits with where roughly speaking where a Minister’s constituency is … that can be a more subtle route in … and doesn’t get trapped by the officials. <ref>Patricia Hewitt. Interview. In: ''Dispatches'', ‘Politicians for Hire’, Channel 4, 22 March 2010, 20:00 hrs.</ref></p></blockquote> | ||
Revision as of 08:23, 25 March 2010
Patricia Hewitt (born 02 December 1948, Canberra) has been the Member of Parliament for Leicester West since 1997. She was appointed as Minister for Small Business and e-Commerce at the Department of Trade and Industry (1999-2001) before becoming Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in 2001. Most recently, she served as Secretary of State for Health from May 2005 – June 2007.[1]
Contents
Patricia’s five ways to meet a Minister
In the Dispatches programme ‘Politicians for Hire’, broadcast on 22 March 2010, Dispatches set up a fictional US public affairs company and contacted Hewitt and several senior politicians and asked them if they were interested in a position on the advisory board in their London office. Hewitt attended a bogus interview and outlined to the undercover reporter five ways in which corporations could gain access to a serving Minister of State:
(1) Wining and dining
“You know when I was Business Secretary I would cheerfully accept hospitality initiations, for instance, because it was just a really useful way of getting to know business leaders rather better. Gordon is pretty against all of that.”
(2) The think-tank route
“Now the think tank and the seminar route I think is a very good one and will remain a good one and so identifying the right think-tank. Policy Exchange is a good one at the moment, Demos is another good one and saying ok does that think tank already have a relationship with Minister X? Can we invite Minister X to give a seminar on this subject, your client would then sponsor the seminar and you do it via the think-tank. And that’s very useful, because what you get for your sponsorship is basically you sit next to the Minister.”
(3) Sponsor a Party Conference event
“Is a classic one, increasingly crowded for the Conservatives at the moment. A bit un-crowded for Labour last year, it used to be the reverse.”
(4) Direct invitation
Sometimes you know just a direct invitation to have you know we want to come and see you about X will sometimes work.
(5) Establish a presence in the Minister’s constituency
So depending on the company if they’ve got a presence in some part of the country or there’s some link and then that fits with where roughly speaking where a Minister’s constituency is … that can be a more subtle route in … and doesn’t get trapped by the officials. [2]
Affiliations
- Special Consultant,[3] Alliance Boots (http://www.allianceboots.com/) - International chemist chain
- Non-executive Director,[4] BT (http://www.bt.com/) - Communications company
- Senior Adviser,[5] Cinven (http://www.cinven.com/) - Private equity firm
Publications, Contact, Resources and Notes
Publications
Contact
- Address:
- Phone:
- Email:
- Website:
Resources
- Costello, Miles, "BT snares former minister Patricia Hewitt," Times, 13 March 2008, accessed 25 November 2008.
- Hewitt, Patricia, About Patricia Hewitt, accessed 25 November 2008.
- Ungoed-Thomas, Jon, et al., "Revealed: how minister cashed in on contacts," The Sunday Times, 23 November 2008, accessed 24 November 2008.
Notes and References
- ↑ Hewitt, Patricia, About Patricia Hewitt, accessed 25 November 2008.
- ↑ Patricia Hewitt. Interview. In: Dispatches, ‘Politicians for Hire’, Channel 4, 22 March 2010, 20:00 hrs.
- ↑ Costello, Miles, "BT snares former minister Patricia Hewitt," Times, 13 March 2008, accessed 25 November 2008.
- ↑ Times Online website, "BT snares former minister Patricia Hewitt," by Miles Costello, 13 March 2008, accessed 25 November 2008.
- ↑ Times Online website, "BT snares former minister Patricia Hewitt," by Miles Costello, 13 March 2008, accessed 25 November 2008.
