page_title: Lobbying in the United Kingdom
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lobbying in the United Kingdom / History
caption_attribution_description: English: House of Lords &amp; House of Commons Lobby. The Parliament. London. UK
context_page_description: Lobbying in the United Kingdom plays a significant role in the formation of legislation and a wide variety of commercial organisations, lobby groups "lobby" for particular policies and decisions by Parliament and other political organs at national, regional and local levels.
  The phrase "lobbying" comes from the gathering of Members of Parliament and peers in the hallways of Houses of Parliament before and after parliamentary debates. The now-defunct UK Public Affairs Council defined lobbying as:
  in a professional capacity, attempting to influence, or advising those who wish to influence, the UK Government, Parliament, the devolved legislatures or administrations, regional or local government or other public bodies on any matter within their competence.
  Formal procedures enable individual members of the public to lobby their Member of Parliament but most lobbying activity centres on corporate, charity and trade association lobbying, where organisations seek to amend government policy through advocacy.
caption: The lobby of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
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