Political activities and payments

I’ve never been very interested in politics, so I was surprised when my brother-in-law asked me to speak at an election rally. It turned out he just wanted me to say a few words about how much he cared about our family and how closely we all worked to support each other, which was mostly true. 

The rally was in a village hall not far from where he lived. It was a hot evening and the place was packed with supporters and journalists. I hadn’t realised what a rising star he was. When he invited me to the microphone, my hands were shaking.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he said. ‘I’d like to introduce you to a member of my family for whom I have the deepest admiration and respect. A man who has worked hard all his life and now holds a top position at Serco, where he is dedicated to serving our community.’

It was a bit of an exaggeration to say I held a top position, but in front of all those people I have to confess the flattery made me feel more confident. I managed to get through my little speech without drying up. The applause was deafening. 

Feeling very relieved, I smiled at the flashing cameras and went back to my seat on the stage beside the other speakers. Then it was his turn.

He was running as an opposition candidate for our provincial assembly. His target was the health system, which had seen three ministers come and go in less than two years. I was vaguely aware of this, as some of my colleagues had complained about a long-overdue contract that was holding everything up. Fortunately it wasn’t my problem because I worked in transport. I’d never heard him make a speech before. He was full of fire and passion, playing the audience to perfection so that they cheered and whistled as he whipped them into a frenzy.

‘Have you ever seen such incompetence?’ he thundered. ‘And why? Because they only care about their careers, not about us, the people!’

The audience cheered and stamped their feet.

‘Look what’s happening to the hospital programme. It has ground to a halt! Why? Because all they’re interested in is fighting each other to get the top jobs and the salaries that go with them.’

Then he turned and gestured towards me 

‘And if you don’t believe me, ask my brother-in-law. Serco has been ready and waiting to operate the new hospital that has been waiting for approval for two years – yes, two years – and thanks to these imbeciles nothing has happened!’

This brought the audience to their feet. There was another burst of camera flashes, many of them aimed at me, it seemed. An alarm bell was ringing faintly in my head, but I was too overwhelmed at being the centre of attention to pay it much attention. Not that it would have made any difference.

The next day, the headlines in the regional media spelled out how much trouble I was in. ‘Serco condemns Health Ministry’ read one, with a picture of me beneath it. ‘Health Ministry incompetence revealed by Serco’ read another. None of it was true of course, but the damage was done.

My colleagues on the hospital team weren’t happy. Nor was my boss. It hadn’t even occurred to me to tell her about the rally or the fact that my brother-in-law was a candidate. Of course that’s what I should have done and she would have advised me amongst other things to make it absolutely clear from the outset that I was there is a personal capacity and not for the company. But it was too late for that. Despite the media team’s efforts to correct the story, we lost the hospital contract a few weeks later. We nearly lost a transport too. And I didn’t get the promotion I was hoping for. 

My brother-in-law won the election. He was extremely apologetic about my problems at work, though he soon forgot about it as his career progressed. We’re still friendly, but the relationship between our families is less close than it used to be. However, I can’t blame him for what happened to me. I just didn’t think it through when I accepted the invitation.

Unless we’ve been authorised to speak on Serco’s behalf, we always make it clear that our opinions or views are personal and do not represent Serco’s position. 

We do the same if we’re asked to speak at any external events and aren’t authorised to speak on Serco’s behalf.

He was absolutely charming, the ideal lobbyist. He had an impressive client list, excellent references and was a respected member of his professional association. We were in a hurry – as always – so we snapped him up as quickly as we could.

The job itself wasn’t at all controversial. We were experiencing delays with the import of vital machinery, and a simple tweak of the import regulations would speed things up without compromising the government’s policies or costing them any money. It was a win-win, just a question of unravelling a bureaucratic tangle. 

Within a month he was making significant progress. The government was sympathetic to our proposals and told us the changes might even be made by the end of the year. We breathed a collective sigh of relief and told ourselves, job done.

Except it wasn’t. What we didn’t know was that he was working secretly for a notorious property developer who wanted to build a theme park on the edge of a nature reserve. We only found out when the lobbyist was caught on CCTV handing a briefcase of cash to an official from the Department of Planning. 

When the story came out that he was also working for us, all hell broke loose. The anti-government media had a field day suggesting we were offering bribes too, and the government itself was furious with us for embarrassing them. We looked so stupid.

The thing we had missed was that the lobbyist was not only a business partner of the property developer, he was a lifelong friend as well. It was all out there, ready to be found if we’d dug a bit deeper. 

But – as always – we were in a hurry. More haste, less speed, as they say. The import regulations are still the same and we’re still experiencing delays with our machinery. 

Whenever we hire a lobbyist we carefully follow our due diligence procedure. 

The children looked so happy as we gave out the books. I was happy too. An old family friend had told me about a charity that had been set up to promote early-age reading in village schools. 

I knew the charity must be legit because my friend was the treasurer, and he’s scrupulously honest. So I was delighted to offer Serco’s support - It was a perfect fit for our community outreach programme.

So there I was at the launch standing under a banner that proudly displayed our logo alongside the charity’s name, smiling for the cameras. But all of a sudden they lost interest. A big car was pulling up. Out if it stepped someone I recognised all too well, a local politician who was fiercely critical of the local government’s education policy. The problem was, we had several contracts with them. 

Before I could do anything he shook my hand and posed with me under the banner. What I hadn’t realized was that he was one of the charity’s co-founders – because I hadn’t checked.

There was a lot of explaining to do. The local government accused us of being politically biased, and in the end my boss had to step in to apologize personally. 

And of course it all put a big black mark on my record. As my manager said to me, ‘There’s nothing wrong with being passionate about a good cause, but it’s no excuse for not checking the details properly.’ 

I learned that the hard way. 

When it comes to political parties Serco needs to stay impartial and not favour one over another.

It was so difficult. I didn’t want to make him feel in any way that he could pursue his own personal political activities, but there was a clear conflict between what he was doing and Serco’s interests.

He’s a passionate environmentalist. And some of the things he’s proposed we do at the site have been brilliant – really good ideas that we’ve adopted and shared. 

Recently he’s become increasingly active in the organisations that are determined to get governments and business to urgently address climate change. In principle I agree pretty much totally agree with him. 

But some of his actions have crossed the line. Last month he was arrested with other activists from blocking a bridge in the centre of town and creating a 5 mile tailback of traffic. 

And then yesterday when we got to work we found a group of activists outside the yard preventing our trucks from getting in or out. And he was among them. 

I don’t want to prevent anyone from following their own political agenda, but he’s taken this too far and now I have to call him in. 

Personal political activities can sometimes create a conflict with Serco. So if we or a close relative are planning to accept or seek a public office, or if any other political activity might have an impact on Serco or on our job, we always talk to our manager.