The restoration of the Scottish Parliament has made Edinburgh once more the focal point for political debate in Scotland . The Parliament is now responsible for the major issues that affect Scots' everyday lives--health, education, and housing, for example, to name but a few.

Stuart Crawford Associates, founded at the same time as the modern Scottish Parliament in 1999, is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable public affairs specialists in Scotland, expert in explaining how the Scottish Executive and Parliament work, in what ways its work affects businesses and organisations, and how best to interact with and influence the Scottish political decision making process. Our political services include:

Political Monitoring

One of the most important things in any organisation's existence is to know what's coming next, and nowhere is this more critical than in the political world. All political parties have their agendas, but these can change as rapidly as governments sometimes do, plus of course Parliamentary officials can have great influence and set their own priorities. All sectors--public, private, and voluntary--need to keep up to speed with developments and changes in policies, but it can be a tall order to do this in-house. It calls for specialised knowledge and time to ensure that the correct and relevant political intelligence is extracted from the plethora of sources available.

Stuart Crawford Associates has been monitoring the Scottish Parliament since its re-birth and has unrivalled knowledge of how, when, and why policy is developed. As the Parliament affects most aspects of everyday life in Scotland today, it's essential to keep up to date with political developments if you need to react in a well prepared and timely manner. We can offer clients a monitoring service based on their particular needs on a basis--weekly, fortnightly, or monthly--to suit their specific needs.

Political Research

Drawing on our expert knowledge of the Scottish political scene, Stuart Crawford Associates is able to provide an outstanding political research service for organisations which need a detailed understanding of particular issues and topics. Political information comes from a variety of sources. Parliament itself, the parties, politicians and officials, political journalists, and special interest organisations and pressure groups - and we have well established contacts in all of these sectors, offering unparalleled access to up-to-date data on a broad spectrum of issues.

Our expert interpretation of the data turns it into political intelligence, the end product of all good political research. Political intelligence keeps our clients at the forefront of political interaction in Scotland and well ahead of their rivals and competitors.

Preparation of Briefing Materials

The design, drafting, and presentation of briefing materials is crucial when it comes to presenting information to politicians and officials. With so many organisations competing for attention only the best case will stand out.

Stuart Crawford Associates has prepared politically oriented brochures and briefing papers for some major organisations in Scotland and the UK . Calling on the services of some of the best graphic design teams in Scotland , we are proud of our record of getting well designed and persuasive materials on behalf of our clients into the right hands at the right time.

Presentations

Briefing politicians, officials, and political journalist personally is sometimes the best way to get the message across. Stuart Crawford Associates takes the lead in preparation of scripts, invitation of appropriate individuals, and locating appropriate venues. Our clients make the presentations, but we do the work.

Political Campaigning

Political campaigns bring together in one coherent, sustained and focussed effort all of Stuart Crawford Associates’ skills in public affairs. We have run numerous high profile campaigns on behalf of clients from across the private, public and voluntary sectors as our clients strive to influence the development of government policy.

Political campaigning is at the high intensity, leading edge of public affairs and can produce highly satisfactory results for both campaigning organisation and policy makers alike.