What is a Political Assistant?
A Political Assistant is a local government officer, employed exclusively to support a local political group in its day-to-day council duties. Political Assistants are ‘politically restricted’ as per the Local Government & Housing Act 1989, meaning they are not allowed to voice their political opinion in public, nor publicly canvas for a particular political party, although they are allowed to convey their political opinion and advice to the group they support.
The duties of a Political Assistant cover a vast spectrum of professional roles, and cannot be pigeon-holed into a particular category. At any one time a Political Assistant will undertake the duties of a policy advisor, press officer, political operative, researcher, case worker, quasi-councillor, counsellor, secretary, web designer, web master, marketing manager, image consultant, photographer and graphic designer to name just a few professional duties. In essence a Political Assistant is the ultimate communications expert.
Below you will find a list of further tasks undertaken by all Conservative Political Assistants to varying degress across the country:
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Research & policy development.
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Group organisation and administration – in conjunction with the group.
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Secretary and/or group leader’s PA; involves arranging substitutes, group meetings, collecting subscriptions, generally supporting the group leader and group management team.
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‘Social Work’ – a shoulder to cry on, sounding board, and general information point.
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Press officer.
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Webmaster to the Group’s website.
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Contact for the local and regional Conservative party and the local and regional government Conservative groups.
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Unofficial link into the national party, through CPON, Conservative Councillors’ Association, Conservative Central Office and Conservative Local Government Association.
The types of projects Political Assistants in CPON have undertaken include:
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Collation of group submissions to Periodic Electoral Reviews.
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Act as a representative of the Group on the officers editorial board of the Council newspaper.
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Work with local MPs on local campaigns, sharing research and acting as a liaison.
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Support regional Conservative Groupings.
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Undertake surveys on the group’s behalf.
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Support group candidates through election period with information and briefings (although any public statement of political allegiance by assistants is illegal).
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Compile Notes of Interest from meetings of the executive, full council, etc, as an alternative source of reference to official minutes.
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Compile and collate a library of information, including official council documents, press cuttings, group literature, regional and national Conservative news, and other relevant information.
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Act as editor for group newsletters.
