The Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC) has announced the appointment of two deputy chairs for the forthcoming year for the first time in its twenty year history.
Nicholas Lansman, Group Managing Director of Political Intelligence, and Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Airport Operators Association (AOA), take up their posts immediately having been elected unopposed. The announcement was made at a strategy meeting of the APPC’s Management Committee on Monday 16 June.
They will support Iain Anderson as Chair, who was elected to succeed Michael Burrell last month. Anderson commented: "I'm delighted that Nicholas and Darren will be supporting the important work of the APPC over the coming year. We have some big challenges ahead and both Nicholas and Darren will play key roles ensuring the APPC continues to support our members and drive transparency."
Nicholas Lansman, Vice Chair of the APPC said: "It will be a privilege to support the work of the APPC over the next 12 months as Vice Chairman. It goes without saying that our priority is the creation of the new Statutory Register, which is why I will be working closely with Iain to ensure that all APPC member views and concerns are raised directly with Government officials and the Registrar. I am also interested in looking more closely at the APPC's Governance, continuing the process of updating the articles to ensure they are relevant and applicable to member firms and individuals."
Darren Caplan, Vice Chair of the APPC said: "I'm looking forward to supporting Iain, the Management Committee and the APPC's member firms as we all gear up to the creation of the Government's Statutory Register. As an in-house member of the APPC I am also particularly keen to highlight the importance of membership for in-house public affairs teams. The majority of public affairs consultants in the UK work directly for the organisations that they lobby for and would benefit greatly from the expertise and training that the APPC can offer staff. We will be trying to get this message out to the widest audience possible."