Palace Yard

Thank you Steve Fraser and Cadent Gas Limited for sponsoring this amazing breakfast with Bill Esterson MP (newly elected chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero select committee) and some of the most interesting European CEOs and energy industry leaders as part of Cadent Gas Limited’s annual #GlobalTechnology24 conference. Thank you Paolo Gallo, Frédéric DYKMANS 🌱, Alfredo Ingelmo, Mary Palkovich, Roger Serrat, Hany Fouda, Marie-Françoise L'Huby, Micheal Hahn and Lorenzo Romeo for sharing your experiences and the lessons you have learned on your decarbonisation journeys with your UK counterparts: Howard Forster, Anthony Ballance, Richard Walsh, Jane Toogood OBE FRSC, Philipp Lukas, Oliver Lancaster and Tim Harper. Main take-outs were: * The important role of biomethane – France has 700 sites to the UK’s 60. * Methane leakage reduction – Some countries in Europe are using AI not just to find and fix leaks but to predict where they are likely to be. * Hybrid heating – Not to rule it out of the options for domestic heating, as a way of socialising heat pumps. Common themes that emerged from the discussion were: * Being technology agnostic and practical rather than ideological. * In Europe, gas and electricity work hand-in-glove rather than as competing energy technologies. * Driving down costs for customers is the only way to change behaviours. * The impact of onshore renewable energy infrastructure on communities and how the gas network (underground) can help support electricity. * The job opportunities and economic benefits of the energy transition. It was a great way to start the day and wonderful to meet so many interesting people and compare notes! Excellent initiative, Cadent Gas Limited! Great photos, Josh Caius!

Becoming an MP is such a significant change from what has come before, many people can underestimate the pressures put on incoming MPs and the support they need. Whilst it’s been heartening to hear about the improved induction process for incoming MPs, our CEO Natascha Engel and a group of other ex-MPs produced a guide to give the advice they wished they’d had when they were first elected. Pocket Parliament was issued last month to all new MPs and covered a wide range of topics as we believe it’s in everyone’s best interests, MPs, businesses and the general public, to have better supported and informed policy-makers. To hear more about the work we’re doing at Palace Yard to address these issues, please visit our website or reach out to Natascha Engel or Jonathan Collins. #engagement #induction #pocketparliament https://lnkd.in/es_-XhXB

This is really excellent from Kirsty McNeill MP on how to get the best out of a meeting with a Minister. Great to see you in Parliament, Kirsty!

Good to listen to the always informative POLITICO Europe #Westminsterinsider podcast about new MPs and their arrival in #Westminster. (Link in the comments section) Our CEO Natascha Engel knows all about this and wrote a piece as part of our ‘Spare a thought’ series earlier this month. A great read for #publicaffairs and businesses who are eager to engage with new MPs! #engagement #publicaffairs #newMPs

Excited to be launching #PathwaysToNetZero - a programme of briefings for MPs and #policymakers on the #energy and #infrastructure needed for the UK to reach #netzero2050. I'm delighted to chair the #PathwaysToNetZero coalition of Jacobs, Ørsted, Centrica, National Gas and Make UK - all committed to working collaboratively to help MPs find their feet more quickly on the complexities of energy policy. Thank you, James Pruden, Robin Perry, Jake Tudge, Katy Recina, Laura Harvey, Nick Baird, Allan MacDonald and Stephen Phipson for all your help and brilliant ideas so far. Can't wait to get cracking!

The second in my new series of 'Spare a thought...' blogs. I'd love to hear what you think!

Lovely morning with social media sensation and new Member of Parliament Samantha Niblett MP and the wonderful Julie Marson hearing about the reality of arriving in #Westminster for the first time. Julie’s stories from the 2019 Parliament were an interesting contrast to Samantha’s experiences in her first couple of weeks. It was so refreshing to hear how much camaraderie there was among MPs across the aisle – something you don’t see on the TV nor read about in the papers. Great chairing from Palace Yard’s Roberta Blackman-Woods. We were both first elected in 2005 when 🤦♀️ the internet wasn’t what it is today and we still received most of our correspondence by snail mail. It was shocking to hear what MPs are subjected to on social media these days – especially women. This is a theme we’ll be picking up on in September. Anyone interested in working with us on this, please get in touch. Thank you to everyone who came. A great start to the morning! Jeff House MCIBSE MCIPR, Richard Walsh, Juliette Gerstein, Adam Isaacs, Jonathan Brenton, Ishaka De Bessou, Shayne Halfpenny-Ray, Katherine Kennett CMgr MCMI, Ross Kester, Myriam C. Khan, Jane Mullaney, Daniel Platt, Sam Poyner, Charles Bowden

Interesting insight from our CEO Natascha Engel on the election of Deputy speaker, a role she used to occupy!

Excellent morning with Jim Murphy founder and CEO of Arden Strategies on what we might (and might not) see in the King’s Speech tomorrow.    It was great to get the inside track from someone who has helped write previous Queen’s Speeches and get some tips on how to craft a legislative programme, especially for a new Government.    1. What laws are really needed? What absolutely has to happen in this Parliament?  2. What laws are able to get onto the statute books in the first year? 3. What laws show that you are different from the previous Government? 4. What laws make good political sense? 5. Where is there pent-up demand from within your political party and the country? 6. Is it affordable? 7. Is it enforceable?    Those last two might seem like afterthoughts but they are probably the most important questions that Keir Starmer and his team are asking themselves on the eve of the King’s Speech.    Thank you, Jim Murphy and Stephen Phipson and Make UK for hosting us. Lovely breakfast and great networking.    Thank you also to everyone who came along and for your great questions. It was an excellent way to start the day!

Delighted to feature in the Path to Net Zero edition of The House Magazine - the first issue of this Parliament. In the article I have written about our Pathways to Net Zero #P2NZ initiative which we are launching at the end of the month. Net zero should be the defining policy of our generation and this new Labour Government's core driver of economic growth. The fact is that net zero will need industry to deliver investment and infrastructure as well as producing the low- and zero-carbon energy to fuel the transition. To do that, we need policymakers to understand how energy works, what the opportunities are, and what some of the policy options are to get us to #netzero by 2050 - and that means helping new MPs learn from the experts. If you would like to hear more about #P2NZ, DM me! https://lnkd.in/gc_7KtMk