The shortlist for the 2026 Corporate Affairs Awards - held in partnership with PR Week - has been unveiled. While the awards span more than 30 categories across corporate, financial, pharma and healthcare communications, it is the Newcomer of the Year – Public Affairs category that stands out as a bellwether for the next generation of influence professionals. The three to watch The shortlisted nominees are:

Hannah Sneath, senior associate, H/Advisors Cicero Zak Wagman, senior account executive, Grayling Emily Wheeler, public affairs manager, UK Finance

Between them, the trio represent agency and in-house functions operating at the sharp end of UK policymaking — from regulatory reform and parliamentary scrutiny to industry-wide advocacy. H/Advisors Cicero and Grayling remain two of the most active consultancies in Westminster and Whitehall engagement, while UK Finance sits at the centre of ongoing debates over financial services regulation, consumer protection and the UK’s post-Brexit competitiveness agenda. The shortlist therefore offers a snapshot of where emerging policy talent is being developed: within data-led consultancies and increasingly technical trade body teams. The category also reflects the changing profile of early-career public affairs professionals. With government engagement now intersecting with ESG mandates, regulatory complexity, Select Committee activism and reputational risk management, the “newcomer” brief in 2026 looks markedly more strategic than it did even five years ago. Winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London on 22 April.

Pro-active lobbying campaigns: the policy battlegrounds of 2026 Alongside the individual talent categories, the shortlist for Best Pro-active Lobbying Campaign on an Issue or Cause highlights the issues that have defined the policy cycle. Nominees include:

Rare Cancers Bill — H/Advisors Cicero Bringing Captives Home — Luther Pendragon with the London Market Group The Home Age — MHP Group for E.ON Fairer Energy Future — SEC Newgate UK for an alliance of organisations across the energy sector and affected industries O2 and the Fight for Fairer Ticketing — Virgin Media O2 with Hope & Glory and Broadcast Revolution Chew Plants not Plastic — W Capital for Nuud Extending the right of teachers to be accompanied in workplace disputes — Woburn Partners for Edapt

Taken together, the shortlist reads like a map of current Westminster and regulatory fault lines: healthcare access, energy affordability, telecoms consumer protections and employment rights. Energy campaigns in particular reflect continued political sensitivity around pricing, infrastructure investment and fairness. Telecoms lobbying sits against a backdrop of consumer rights debates and regulatory pressure. Meanwhile, health-related initiatives such as the Rare Cancers Bill underscore the enduring potency of cross-party, patient-led legislative campaigns. The presence of coalition-led initiatives — notably Fairer Energy Future — signals another shift: alliance lobbying is increasingly the default model for high-stakes public affairs work, blending corporate interests with sector-wide advocacy to build political cover and public legitimacy.

A crowded field across corporate affairs Beyond public affairs, the awards — now in their third year and organised by In.Comms in partnership with PRWeek UK — span categories covering in-house teams, integrated agencies, crisis management, IPO communications and media relations....