LONDON — The robots are coming for us all — even the parliamentary researchers. British politicians — and the industries seeking to influence them — are increasingly embracing artificial intelligence tools in a bid to make their jobs easier.  But the rise of the emerging tech is prompting big questions about the output and job security of young people working in politics — and the vital ladder into the world of Westminster their entry-level gigs provide. “Across the whole of public affairs, you’ll be able to write and communicate better. I think there’s a positive here,” said Peter Heneghan, a former No. 10 deputy digital communications director and now an AI advocate in the public affairs world.  “The negative side of that is there will be a lot of roles that go alongside it,” he added. “It’s inevitable.”  Politicians and the people supporting them are already jumping on AI to help write everything from books, speeches and media briefings to policy proposals and responses to constituency casework.  In public affairs, it’s already proving useful for all manner of run-of-the-mill jobs, including drafting strategies, press releases, communiqués, timelines and media monitoring.  It’s cutting the need to trawl through large documents like Hansard — the official record of the British parliament — or Westminster’s register of all-party parliamentary groups, a frequent source of influence for lobbyists.  Both sources have hundreds of pages added in each routine update — and entry-level staffers can often be found combing them for insight to brief their bosses or clients.  So far, British officialdom is leaning into the trend. The government’s own AI incubator has even created “Parlex,” a research tool leting anybody with a government email address examine a parliamentarian’s stated position on even the most minor issues in little to no time.  Proponents argue these tools will free up people working in politics to do the kind of work AI simply can’t.  But there are frustrations too.   The only sanctioned AI tool for the majority of parliamentary work, as outlined in House of Commons guidance, is Microsoft’s Copilot, which the government has licensed for internal use. | Algi Febri Sugita/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The only sanctioned AI tool for the majority of parliamentary work, as outlined in House of Commons guidance, is Microsoft’s Copilot, which the government has licensed for internal use. The use of other chatbots — including ChatGPT, Elon Musk’s Grok, and Claude — is still frequent in parliament, however, amid some grumbling about the official offering.  In June last year, one MP included in a trial emailed the Parliamentary Digital Service — which oversees tech in the Commons — to fume that they “do not want my staff to spend time testing Copilot when the productivity tools are not those that we want or need,” according to correspondence obtained under freedom of information by POLITICO Pro.  ROBOTS TALKING TO ROBOTS  Parliamentarians in the digital age are already inundated with correspondence over email. And artificial intelligence could turn that deluge into an unmanageable flood.  AI-generated email campaigns are now a frequent bugbear for MPs’ offices, with staff feeling pressured to respond to more and more material of a lower and lower quality. One person working in public affairs called it “slop campaigning.”  Heneghan suggests that the “sheer volume” of constituency correspondence that MPs are now getting — and the need to sift through it and reply — means the future of interacting with parliamentarians could become “AI talking to AI.” It would, he says, be “awful” for an already record-low trust in politicians.  Tom Hashemi, the boss of comms consultancy Cast from Clay, echoed that concern. “It’s almost insulting to the point of democracy. MPs are there to respond to genuine constituent concerns, not to have to spend hours of their time responding to AI-generated messages.”  He added that, in his own conversations with ministers and MPs, “they always say those campaigns” — labelled “clicktivism” by Labour MP Mike Reader — “don’t work.”  One parliamentary staffer said: “I can tell that now lots of the email campaigns [by charities] are written by AI — the ones that we get in — whereas before they weren’t. They want it to seem like lots of people are, so they use AI to change the subject lines in the first line of the email very slightly, and the language is all bizarre.”  SQUEEZE ON JOBS AI’s widening use in politics comes amid an increasingly difficult job market for U.K. graduates across the board.  Heneghan suggests there will be a “massive squeeze” on junior jobs available for people working in public affairs, which he argues represents a “double-edged sword” in that menial tasks can be performed more efficiently — while the gains that young people themselves could make from performing them will also be lost.  Prospective job losses will, he predicts, go further than just junior level jobs, with roles for middle managers, human resources, sales and more all being affected.  Meanwhile, Hashemi suggests a route for public affairs firms to continue to expand would be to train new hires to use AI, saying the tech will “affect junior public affairs jobs in firms that don’t adapt to using it and integrating it.”  As trivial as these jobs can seem, many a high-flying politician or adviser got their start shifting around a lot of paper. None other than the prime minister’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, for example, got his start in Labour’s headquarters entering data into spin doctor Peter Mandelson’s famed “Excalibur” rebuttal machine.  Current parliamentary aides expressed less concern that AI is coming for them just yet.  Almost all those POLITICO spoke to in parliament said they wouldn’t use AI to write speeches for their bosses, because it is too easy to spot.  However, a Conservative adviser said they imagined junior staffers could become “checkers” of work as opposed to creators of it, due to the ease of asking AI to generate a first pass at materials.  Meanwhile, a second parliamentary staffer said: “It’s like an aid. I don’t think it can replace jobs yet.”  AI’s one attempt to imitate an MP has so far have been widely derided. Labour MP Mark Sewards became the first parliamentarian to create an AI version of himself that constituents could speak to at any hour — to mixed results. It garbled a Guardian reporter’s Northern accent into unintelligibility, and offered relationship advice, alongside producing a deficient haiku about Nigel Farage to PoliticsHome.  That might be the case right now. But as AI continues to develop at breakneck pace, it could soon seem like child’s play. 

LONDON — The self-styled “eco-populist” leader of Britain’s Green Party couldn’t be ideologically further from right-wing firebrand Nigel Farage. But, as Zack Polanski presides over a leap in his party’s poll ratings, he’s actively channeling the Reform UK leader’s media strategy, and putting himself front and center of the argument for change. It’s a high-stakes gamble that, like Farage, could see him accused of turning the outfit into a one-man band. But so far, it appears to be working. “I don’t want everyone to agree with what I or the Green Party is saying,” Polanski told POLITICO in an interview. “What I do want everyone to know is, I’ll always say what I mean.” ‘REACHING THE CEILING’ Polanski won a landslide victory in the Greens’ heated summer leadership election, handing him the reins of a party that made strong inroads at the last election — but still has just four Members of Parliament. Though the Greens stress many spokespeople will continue to represent the organization, he undoubtedly dominates media appearances, and the party is pushing him as an electoral asset. “We were reaching a ceiling of where you could get to by [the] ground game alone,” Polanski reflects of the Greens’ past performance. “What maybe was holding us back was not being heard in the national media.”  Next month, he’ll walk a well-trodden path for British politicians wanting to raise their profile with an appearance on “Have I Got News for You,” the BBC’s long-running satirical quiz show poking fun at politicians. Despite the cheeky reputation, it’s a national institution and a firm part of the establishment with a large national viewership. Previous guests include Farage himself — and Boris Johnson. Polanski says he wants to “make sure that the media have an easy access point” to the party, and the Green leader seems willing to go to places where he’ll have to put up a fight, too — including a colorful on-air battle with Piers Morgan. He’s even launched his own podcast, currently ranked ninth in the U.K. Apple Podcasts charts for politics shows. Some of the numbers lend credence to the Green leader’s theory of the case. The party now has more than 150,000 members, according to its own estimates, compared to 68,500 when Polanski took over. That puts it ahead of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in membership numbers. As Nigel Farage bids to eclipse the Conservatives as a right-wing force in British politics, he has used regular defections to Reform UK to show he’s on the march. | Carl Court/Getty Images Polanski also appears to have overseen a steady polling uptick for the left-wing outfit, as borne out in POLITICO’s Poll of Polls. “There’s a definite and obvious increase,” says YouGov’s Head of European Political and Social Research Anthony Wells.  “He’s already far better known than [predecessors] Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay were.” Wells cautions: “It’s not like the public are in love with him, but the public do … dislike him less than most of the party leaders,” Wells adds. CONVICTION POLITICS As Farage bids to eclipse the Conservatives as a right-wing force in British politics, he has used regular defections to Reform UK to show he’s on the march. Polanski has tried similar, crowing about defections by ex-Labour councilors from the left. In video campaigning, too, Polanski has taken a leaf out of Reform’s book. He peppered his leadership run with arresting monologues to camera, and he has opted to weigh in on — rather than duck — the divisive issue of immigration. A video by the coast urged voters to “hold that line together” against the “super rich” rather than attacking asylum seekers crossing the English Channel in small boats. “The biggest draw for those films is the fact that Zack is prepared to speak about these things — like a lot of other politicians aren’t,” argues the film’s creator Jeremy Clancy, who leads a creative agency making films for progressive outlets. Clancy used to serve as senior communications manager for ex-Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn. Praising the contribution of migrants when polling shows the public want lower levels is a risky bet. The Green leader argues voters will respect a clear stance, even if they disagree. “People who know that their politicians are telling the truth and are speaking with conviction are always preferred,” he says. Like Reform, Polanski’s team has so far tried to paint in populist, primary colors. His first party political broadcast — a convention by which parties are given guaranteed five-minute TV slots — was filmed in the early hours as a metaphor about billionaires sleeping comfortably while others struggle. “Both were efforts to visualize things that you can’t see and to consciously make them as simple as possible,” Clancy says. Those short videos racked up millions of views. Whether this translates into electoral success, however, remains a wide open question. Next May’s local elections will offer the first real ballot box test of Polanski’s pitch. Ipsos’ Research Director for Public Affairs Keiran Pedley says the Greens are “still waiting for that breakthrough moment” and now need to “seal the deal” with voters. He cautioned against assuming cut-through for a leader will lead to electoral success. Pedley compared Polanski to ex-Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg — who lost seats at the 2010 general election despite a major polling bounce mid-campaign off the back of strong televised debate performances. For now, those who’ve joined the movement seem bullish. “The Greens have gone from being a one-issue party, which is the environment, to basically being the broad left party,” said Swindon Borough Councilor Ian Edwards, who joined the Greens in October after resigning the Labour whip earlier this year. But he added: “We can’t rely on just a leader. We’ve got to prove ourselves.”

BRUSSELS — A senior executive from semiconductor champion ASML slammed the EU for being inaccessible to Europe’s companies during POLITICO’s Competitive Europe summit in Brussels on Wednesday. When asked if he felt the company had sufficient access to top European policymakers such as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Frank Heemskerk, executive vice president of global public affairs at ASML, said: “It’s not always easy.” “It’s easier to get a meeting in the White House with a senior official than to get a meeting with a commissioner,” he added, quoting a previous company executive. The comment came after Heemskerk revealed ASML’s CEO Christophe Fouquet had a 2-hour meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “After an hour and a half of listening, he [Modi] said you’re too friendly, tell me what we can do better,” said Heemskerk. European policymakers would do well to take note, according to the ASML executive: “The political leaders should sit down with the companies that are investing money.” He also commented on ASML’s recent €1.3 billion deal with French artificial intelligence company Mistral, which was seen as a major boost for Europe’s bid to be more technologically sovereign. “Of course it’s easier that it’s a European company, it is easier to understand each other,” he said. But the reason the two companies are teaming up is “because of the focus of Mistral on industrial AI,” he said. “It’s much more an industrial AI focus than anything around geopolitics,” he said.

LONDON — Nigel Farage is getting used to victory rallies — but Reform UK’s upcoming annual conference is going to have a distinctly different feel. The insurgent right-wing party’s consistent national poll lead, its success in this year’s local elections, and a turbulent first year for incumbent Prime Minister Keir Starmer has British businesses scrambling to suss out the motivations of Farage’s outfit — even if that means holding their noses. “There’s been a huge drive recently, especially since the local elections and just before that due to the polling,” Reform’s director of external affairs Matthew MacKinnon says. “There’s been positive intrigue from people who say they want to meet, or say their clients or businesses are interested by what Reform are proposing — and they want to get to know us and get a better understanding.” It’s led, MacKinnon tells POLITICO in an interview, to a “massive” increase in the number of corporate representatives and lobbyists planning their first outing to Reform’s annual conference in September — which unlike the four day gatherings hosted by Westminster’s established parties, will run for just two. While conference for Labour and the Conservatives typically take place across entire exhibition centers and hotel complexes within a heavily guarded ring of steel, Farage’s set-piece event is set to take up just one part of Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre. It’s a space they’ll share on the first day with a convention for Vtubers, who adopt anime avatars to stream games to adoring online followers. Despite the novel setup, Ian Silvera, associate director at public relations firm SEC Newgate, says the surge in business interest around Reform and its budding policy platform is real. It’s now “incumbent” on the industry to show up and take the pulse of Team Farage, he argues. “I think there’s an element of wanting to figure out the party, so the main goal here is to get in front of the main decision-makers and understand how this new party works,” he says. SHIFT IN STRATEGY That’s going to require a shift in expectations among corporate guests accustomed to filling their conference diaries with face-to-face meetings and panel events with key Labour and Tory players. Instead, according to one public affairs professional, granted anonymity to discuss internal business thinking, attempting to engage with Reform’s flood of new local councillors is now a must. It’s an approach which would be dismissed as a colossal waste of resources at other party conferences. “There’s a wild but not unimaginable world where these people are actually very senior stakeholders in government a few years from now, so you’ve got to take the time to know Reform now, but also track it as it grows,” they say. “We are in this unusual circumstance where the party is still being established.” Targeting those on the lowest rung of elected office may seem outlandish to seasoned conference lobbyists. But Gawain Towler, Reform’s former head of press and now a senior adviser to consultancy firm Bradshaw Advisory, insists even bagging that level of engagement could prove tough given the party’s pitch as outsiders to the Westminster machine. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage attends a post-election event at the Staffordshire County Showground in Stafford, Britain, 02 May 2025. Adam Vaughan/EPA “I’ve had people say, Gawain, can you organize a lunch with the leaders of various county councils? No, I can’t. Absolutely not,” Towler says. “The idea that they’re going to spend their time at this event sitting down with business people — you’ve got to be kidding me,” he says. “They’re not that sort of people. We don’t have a tradition of hunkering down with interested parties in the same way that others do.” But for those determined to make their presence known, the party is offering a range of corporate sponsorship packages for conference, ranging from £25,000 to £250,000. These will offer those who fork out the cash additional opportunities to network with Reform’s leadership and promote their brand to the party faithful. Such cash-for-clout deals are a common feature of the political conference circuit. Reform’s MacKinnon admits firms may not have the “urgency” at this stage in the election cycle to warrant that bigger showing, and public affairs professionals agree that putting budgets toward lobbying the incumbent Labour administration remains the wisest choice. Towler — now running for a seat on Reform’s governing board — insists some firms are still scared to even attend the conference due to the potential reputational risk of associating with Farage. There remains a perception, Towler says, that those on the winning side of the Brexit referendum are simply “evil bastards.” “With corporates there’s still a lot of reticence,” he notes. “I’ve literally had people say I’d like to come along to one of your events but don’t tell anybody I’m coming. “Just grow up. We’ve always had support amongst entrepreneurs, the people who can make decisions for themselves. But as soon as you get to having a board, or having shareholders, there is fear.” Both MacKinnon and Towler agree that the party’s sudden growth in popularity has exposed significant gaps in its policymaking machine — and so firms willing to dip their toe in the water at these early stages will have better access and opportunities to put meat on the bones of a future Reform agenda. “We’ve been quite honest when we meet people — those that engage earlier on will have a stronger, longer relationship with us, as you can expect,” MacKinnon says. “That’s just the way it is in every industry and in every sector. So, we are encouraging early engagement, and when we say that to people they understand it fully.” It’s why Nick King, managing director of public affairs firm Henham Strategy, is encouraging his clients to be “flexible” about their expectations. Contact-building in the conference bar may prove more valuable than showing up armed with a detailed policy demand. “I don’t think people are exactly clear about how the whole two days is going to pan out, or what the opportunities will be to engage,” he says. “But it’s clear to us that it’s better to be in the room and at the venue, than not in the room and not at the venue.” John Johnston is the author of London Influence, POLITICO’s weekly newsletter on lobbying, transparency and campaigning in British politics.