A senior figure at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations has told Press Gazette that the PR industry needs to raise its professional standards if it “wants to be taken seriously”.

Phil Morgan, director of policy and communications at the CIPR, said the organisation was about to undertake a comprehensive review of its code of conduct, partly in response to recent scrutiny of lobbying and the industry’s ‘dark arts’.

The review will look at how it can make the the world of public relations more transparent by promoting the principles of ‘honesty, integrity, transparency and fair dealing with the public”.