Purdah poses challenges – but it shouldn’t shut us up

It seems like a few weeks since last year’s general election, which resulted in a period of political sensitivity (aka ‘purdah‘) lasting well into the summer while the new Government established itself.

Purdah is the term that covers guidance regulations restricting what public bodies can (and can’t) say and do before an election. 

The unusual events that followed last year’s poll stopped many forms of communication for weeks during the initial negotiations between the coalition partners.

I don’t expect the same will happen with the local elections this year. But I have been surprised at how early some councils have declared purdah underway in their areas.

Councils’ comms closedown

One authority (a hung council) started the shutdown on Monday this week, almost two months in advance of any vote.

When this period starts depends on the council, and how close the election is expected to be. However, most councils with local elections will be in purdah by the end of next week. You can check which authorities are going to the polls here.

For the HCA, this means some activity including media relations, photocalls and speaking engagements that involve local authorities will need to be carefully considered. It should not mean, however, that public bodies simply stop communicating completely during the election period.

There will still be a need to provide factual information about public services, attend meetings, speak at events, answer questions and maintain a ‘business as usual’ approach.

The crucial factor in assessing which activity to progress during an election period is perception: if there is a chance that an announcement or event will be seen as favouring one political party, then it probably should be avoided.

That still leaves plenty of things that could – and should – be done. I’ll certainly stay pretty busy over the next few weeks anyway.