NI Assembly Election 2027: Now is perfect time to set out the stall

Chris Brown, Director, Brown O’Connor | Ireland

A year out from the NI Assembly election is the perfect moment to take stock. For businesses, the next twelve months are not a waiting period - they are a critical window to prepare, engage, and position for success. Those who act early will be the ones best placed to navigate whatever comes next.

Refresh your policy priorities and evidence base

What are the top three issues that matter most to your organisation over the next mandate? More importantly, can you articulate them clearly, concisely, and with credible evidence behind them?

Businesses should be reviewing their economic impact data, regulatory or operational barriers, social value contributions, workforce and skills needs and their long‑term investment plans.

Political parties will soon begin shaping their manifestos. If you want your priorities reflected, you need to be able to present a compelling, evidence driven case now - not in the final weeks of the campaign.

Map your stakeholders and strengthen relationships

The 2027Assembly election will inevitably bring change - new MLAs, new committee chairs, new ministers. However, many of the people shaping policy today will still be influential post-election. Established relationships built on trust and transparency are far more valuable than last minute requests during a campaign.

Businesses should be aware of the current cohort of MLAs, their policy interests, and those who influence their sector. It is important to understand the role of special advisers and party policy teams, and the need to engage more with sectoral and representative bodies and their initiatives, such as the excellent NI Chamber Public Affairs Forum.

Prepare your organisation’s election narrative

Every business needs a clear, consistent narrative that explains who you are, what you contribute, and what you need from the next Executive to grow. Make it positive and forward looking, grounded in real world impact, flexible enough to adapt to different political audiences and ultimately relevant to the priorities of the Programme for Government.

Think of it as your organisation’s ‘election‑ready’ story - one that can be used in meetings, written submissions, media engagement, and at stakeholder events.

Engage early with party policy processes

Most parties will begin consulting stakeholders well before the formal campaign period. This is the window when ideas are shaped, not just announced. Constructive engagement at this stage is far more influential than reactive engagement later. Businesses should be responding to policy consultations, offering briefings to party teams, hosting site visits or roundtables and sharing practical insights from their sector.

Stress test your communications and scenario planning

Scenario planning is essential. You don’t need to try and predict outcomes, but you do need to understand how different political configurations could affect your operating environment.

Elections can shift public debate quickly. Businesses should ensure they have a plan for responding to political developments, clear lines on key issues, a strategy for media engagement and internal communications prepared for staff and stakeholders.

Economic and political uncertainty

The most resilient organisations are those that understand politics not as a cycle of elections, but as a continuous process. Training senior teams, building internal awareness, and embedding political monitoring into your decision making will pay dividends long after polling day.

Invest in professionals that understand the ‘triple-play’

Business, politics and the media are linked. There is overlap and you should see your business in the middle of that Venn Diagram. The most effective organisations either have in-house colleagues or external agency support. That should not be regarded as a luxury. We only have to see the impact of the Assembly hiatus, impacts of Brexit and the covid pandemic, never mind the whole plethora of day to day issues that create the consistent backdrop of economic and political uncertainty. Surround yourself with professionals who have mastered the integration of the ‘triple-play’ of media, commerce and politics.

Article first appeared in Ambition Magazine, NI Chamber of Commerce