Government access is an important exercise of democratic freedom, and this usually includes corporate access as well as access for citizens. However, it offends the public when corporate access is used to extend buying influence or otherwise gain private advantages through lobbying activity, especially when it could be detrimental to the public interest.

Lobbying should be consistent with your organisation’s values, as well as what your organisation stands for. When this doesn’t happen, the public can call out lobbying actions as hypocritical. For example, last year, the CEO of Google published a letter along with 200 other CEOs in opposition to a repressive voting law in Georgia. However, Google was soon exposed for funding an organisation that supported this and similar laws, laying bare a disconnect between the values they showed to the public, and the way they truly acted behind closed doors.

Public perception of lobbying is largely cynical as it is becoming used as a tool for power, rather than effective and ethical change. 63% of people polled by the Gallup Poll rated ‘the honesty and ethical standards’ of lobbyists as low or very low. Lobbyists were the worst rated from the list of professions polled. The expectation is that businesses want something in return for their lobbying practices and that there are always secret motives hidden behind their actions.

This public perception isn’t helped by the knowledge of the various methods of indirect lobbying, which can sometimes include schmoozing with lavish hospitality, tickets to concerts and sporting events, and even holidays, such as 2-day conferences in tourist resorts where a 2-week stay is thrown in.

Paid jobs are sometimes offered as well: Owen Paterson, an MP, was hired as a part-time consultant for Randox in 2015 and worked within the government to advocate for certain benefits to Randox, including a contract to produce testing kits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, indirect lobbying can also serve more genuine actions including donating to campaign groups and funding think tanks. A think tank is a body of experts that provide advice and ideas on political or economic issues. ‘Think tanks’ can be used by lobbyists to access public figures at events.

Think tanks can serve legitimate and useful functions such as contributing to the formation of beneficial public policy and offering technical expertise. However, less unscrupulous think tanks have been exposed for offering to write reports with pre-set conclusions for cash, and others are merely fronts to allow corporations or other organisations to promote their interests and access public officials.

Political donations give businesses tremendous power over political decisions. One close tie that businesses often have with the government, and that heavily influences lobbying practices, is the ‘revolving door.’ The revolving door refers to the movement of staff between the public and private sector, bringing with them contacts and influence or even regulatory, executive or legislative roles while being part of organisations that are affected by such regulation, legislation, or decisions.

When done conscientiously, these revolving doors enable business and government to better understand each other and bring practical experience to policy-making, with benefits to wider society. However, there is a clear danger that when ‘switching sides’ from, for example, a water ombudsman to the CEO of a water company, insiders are also well placed to secure favours and advantages for themselves and private business interests.

Most lobbying is unregulated in the UK. The Committee on Standards in Public Life assists the Prime Minister in assessing ethical practices in public life and is in charge of conducting inquiries into any inappropriate practices done in the public sector. This Committee claims that the issue with lobbying sits in the lack of transparency about business interests. Where businesses go wrong is not in the practice of lobbying itself, but rather, in the abuse of such practices.

Lobbying clearly is a double edged sword, where many of the negative implications have taken over the public's perception on the topic. With an effort to improve transparency, businesses can use lobbying to enact more positive and ethical change. This would also provide the opportunity for those outside the organisation to comment on the organisation's practices and help 'regulate' the way in which businesses lobby and have influence.