Industry and Parliament Trust Collection

Artwork, including caricatures of various MPs and peers.

Available for consultation at the University of Kent's Special Collections & Archives reading room, Templeman Library, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NU (specialcollections@kent.ac.uk).

The Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) is a charity that works to promote the mutual understanding of Parliament and business. It works within the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the European Parliament and with organisations from all sectors of industry. It is non-partisan, non-lobbying and not-for-profit.

Its activities include:Fellowship programmes for Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), peers and senior parliamentary staff. Fellowships provide the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in one more companies through bespoke programmes of placements;Courses, seminars, panel discussions, lectures and events for policymakers, businesspeople and civil servants;Attachments for civil servants.

The Industry and Parliament Trust is based in Whitehall, London.

The IPT was founded in 1977 by the CEOs of 10 major British companies who sought to create dialogue between business and Parliament. It became a registered charity in 1983. The IPT has organised more than 600 Fellowship programmes since it was founded in 1977. When the IPT was set up, just 15% of MPs had any direct business experience. Today that figure is around 46%. Needless to say there is still a substantial proportion of MPs without the necessary understanding of business. In October 2009 the IPT commissioned a research project into the business experience of the Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs) who stood in the 2010 General Election. The research found that of the PPCs in winnable seats, less than half (48%) had any form of business management or financial services experience.