Busy summer of political campaigning

The upcoming party conference season – which will feature a new Prime Minister – will see the College looking to influence key stakeholders from across the political spectrum.

Although the summer recess period at Westminster is usually a quiet time, the ongoing Conservative leadership election has made it a busier time for those who work in policy-related areas.

In a new blog post, Peter Hand - the College’s Public Affairs and Stakeholder Manager – takes a thoughtful look at what the next few months of political campaigning have in store for RCPsych.

The new Conservative leader and Prime Minister will be announced at the start of September. On 21 July the College signed a joint statement along with seven other Royal Colleges and the Association of Royal Medical Colleges. The statement calls for Health and Social Care to be key priorities of the new Government.

College President, Dr Adrian James, commented on the statement:

“By working together with other Royal Colleges and the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, we shall be using the summer period to engage with the leadership teams of the last two candidates, Conservative MPs and various interest groups within the Conservative Party to ensure the issues highlighted in the joint statement are not ignored.”

In his blog post Peter outlines the importance of being able to engage with the teams of both leadership candidates as well as with shadow ministers and MPs from opposition parties.

This is especially important given that there may soon be an Emergency Budget within weeks of the new Prime Minister taking office. There is also the small matter of the next General Election which will need to take place within the next few years.   

This all provides a backdrop as to why RCPsych will be at the Conservative, Labour and the Liberal Democrat party conferences (which take place from mid-September until early October). The College will continue to make the case for investing in the mental health workforce and tackling the NHS backlog.     

Back to 11 August 2022 Members' update.