Lobbying in the United Kingdom
Formal procedures enable individual members of the public to lobby their Member of Parliament but most lobbying activity centres on corporate, charity and trade association lobbying, where organisations seek to amend government policy through advocacy. Companies and individuals who operate in this sector commonly use the terms "public relations", "public affairs", "political consultancy" or "corporate affairs" to describe their activities (though this was also a reaction to the negative publicity surrounding the word "lobbyists" following the 1994 Cash-for-questions affair). Professional public affairs agencies, representing multiple clients, undertake a significant proportion of lobbying activity in addition to individual organisations conducting lobbying on an in-house basis.
Public Affairs Council
The Public Affairs Council (PAC) is a professional association for people working in public administration and policy. Its mission is to advance the field of public affairs and provide resources to public affairs executives and managers to help them achieve their business and professional goals. Based in Washington, D.C., PAC currently counts over 600 corporations, associations and consulting firms as members.