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 relations
According to a 2017 survey by Spring Associates, public relations practitioners in the United States private sector – working at PR agencies - earn salaries which range from $54,900 for an early career position as an account executive, to $118,400 for a mid-career position as an account director, to $174,200 for a senior position as an executive vice-president. Those working in the private sector within a company or organization's PR department earn salaries ranging from $77,600 for an early-career position as a PR specialist, to $149,300 in a mid-career position as a PR director, to $185,000 for a senior position as a vice-president of public relations. Salaries tended to be higher for persons employed in major media markets such as New York and Los Angeles, and lower for those employed in tertiary markets.