This interview with {HANNAH GUERIN} is part of the {GETTING POLICY UNSTUCK} series. Hannah has been a Senior Special Adviser to various Secretaries of State, including in the Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care, and the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.
#16: Understand the system to influence it – Hannah Guerin
The most effective campaigns are the ones that start with a really ambitious mission, but are willing to move to a point where there’s consensus. I really enjoyed those conversations because when you have flexibility, you can have an honest debate and can get further than the campaign thought you would. The key is having a good relationship from the start where you can trust each other and move forward without the fear that somebody’s going to be briefed against.
Never make it personal. You can always build the case without getting personal. If you hit that button it’s problematic and it tips it into ‘We’re just not going to touch that’.
You will not be able to influence the system unless you ‘get’ the system. Put yourself in someone’s shoes, that government official or whomever. When they get up in the morning, what’s going to make them want to talk to you? Why? Once you start breaking that down, it becomes more obvious. ‘Okay, that makes sense, these are the arguments that will run, these are the things that they’re going to care about’. Sometimes people aren’t very good at thinking ‘what does that person need?’
Special advisers don’t have all the answers and are looking to external bodies for help. I always responded better to people that weren’t just filling me in with what they wanted, but actually thinking about how we could work together. Do that thinking and formulate ideas about what we could do, and then find the ways and means to start a conversation. Even if it’s a 5 minute conversation in a brush by meeting.
What makes a good think tank is combining really good ideas and figuring out how to put them into practice. That delivery point is often something that gets missed. It’s something that everyone thinks must be really easy when they walk into government, but often these things look great on paper and rarely work in practice.
You’ve got to figure out what the problems are with a policy as soon as possible. We would always think about it from the opposing side: what problems would I highlight if I were my opposite number? If it’s some kind of funding policy or a formula, which areas of the country are going to benefit? Is it viable at a national scale, or on a smaller scale? Who are going to be the winners and losers? How is it going to play with our election targets? You need to think through how to mitigate the problems before you make big announcements. That doesn’t mean ‘don’t talk about it’. Lots of people are concerned about keeping policy under wraps and keeping it secret, but getting out and talking about it and working out how and where the problems are can really speed up delivery of what you want to achieve. You’ve just got to know this stuff in order to get your policy through in the first place if you’re having to negotiate with Treasury or Number 10. These are the questions advisers will be asking. With finite time and finite resources, you’ve got to be really clear on the benefit of what you’re trying to deliver.
A big campaign moment is there to allow you to present your policy, gain interest in it, and elicit feedback of what’s going to work, or not. You’re also more likely to get longer term funding for something which people have bought into. A campaign moment and a big bang can really help you, but it does depend on the kind of contacts you can draw into it. Have you brought in your key stakeholders? Are they putting out supportive quotes, are they rallying behind you to tell the media and public that the policy is a good idea and it’s going to work?
Timing is everything. You can have a fantastic policy but if it’s the wrong time, no one’s interested. I was always looking for the opportunity to pounce… is there a slot that has suddenly opened in Number 10, or a moment that has been opened by the media?
My advice to new advisers is to step back. There is so much going on, you are so time poor. Everyone is pulling you in a hundred different directions. Have a not-to-do list as much as a to-do list. Particularly these first six months, they will pass you by unless you actually take that hour, two hours, three hours, to sit out and work out what your strategy is for what you want to be true at the end of the year. Be kind to yourself.