There has been quite a lot of discussion here over the last few days about the merits of writing letters to MPs, although I use the term ‘letter' rather loosely, because I rather suspect that most people will send them by email.
I believe that this is an important process, and I write to my own MP quite often. This is one reason why I chose to develop the ChatGPT prompt that I have created to assist me in turning a blog that I have written into a letter to an MP requesting that they take action on the matter that I am concerned about.
Because I think that writing letters to MPs remains an important thing to do, I prepared the list of questions that I think we might want to raise with MPs, which was published here yesterday. Some suggested that the tone of those questions is a little too direct. Maybe they are. But if we can't ask our MPs direct questions, what is the point of having them?
My point is this. We don't really write letters to MPs expecting to get phenomenally useful answers. In truth, anyone who does that is going to be disappointed. I give that warning in advance of suggesting that you undertake this activity. But, there are a number of good reasons for still writing to your MP, despite that limited expectation of a meaningful reply.
Firstly, there is no harm in having a relationship with this person. They need to know that there are people who wish to hold them to account in their constituency, because that should improve their performance as an MP.
Secondly, simply writing about an issue to an MP makes them aware that people are concerned about it. It may not change their mind on anything. It may not require that they undertake any additional research. It may only result in them sending a standard letter prepared on their behalf by their party's communications office, which will leave you deeply dissatisfied with the response that you get. But the MP still knows this is an issue of concern to you, and they will feed that back through the party mechanism, and that will be noticed. Every MP that I have ever known has kept a register of the topics on which letters are sent to them so they can have some gauge of the level of concern on issues in their constituency. If this is the only impact that your letter has, so be it. It is still worth sending.
But let me reiterate three things.
First of all, you can only write to your own MP, which is why you must include your name and address and maybe your phone number.
Second, be fairly specific about what you are raising as a topic and what you want your MP to do. I think that the ChatGPT prompt that I have created does this, although you may wish to make your letter shorter than that which the prompt might create.
Thirdly, be very clear about what you want your MP to do. Again, my ChatGPT prompt does this for a very good reason: it sets out various actions that are required, and the MP can choose to comment on which of those they can do. Most particularly, do include the request that the MP pass this matter on to the relevant minister for comment, because that then creates a further action and reaction, which will be a benefit as a consequence of your letter.
Finally, do remember that democracy does require your involvement. It is not a spectator sport. It is a process requiring active participation. Sending letters is a key component in that, and for that reason, I think that this is worth doing.
You do not, of course, have to use that ChatGPT prompt.
Nor do you have to use that prompt for anything that I have written. You could put an article from anywhere into it, and it will produce a letter. That is its merit.
But what writing to your MP does show is that you care. And this is the thing that we are really demanding from our politicians. It is, for that reason, that I think writing to your MP is useful, and that's why, if I can help the process, I will continue to do so.
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You deserve a Chat GPT response
Only someone who does not understand ChatGPT could say that.
ChatGPT leaves no traces.
And if prompted properly, produces unique material.
In this context ChatGPT is a writing tool. No doubt you use dictionaries. And even spell checkers. Tell me the difference?
I recently wrote by email to my MP. After a wait of several weeks I got a reply. It was clearly a stock cut-and -paste response, and it was about some other issue entirely. So that was *almost* a complete waste of time. At best my communication would have been chalked up as one more constituent being bothered about that issue. I wouldn’t have any confidence that my MP would actually read my letter or make a personal reply.
There are bad MPs, of course.
Mine tries.
Don’t think mine tries . . . she’s Mrs McSweeney.
my MP – a London employment lawyer now representing High Peak (Derbyshire) – sends ‘cut and paste’ straight from the Labour party story book – when asked further questions (ie I actually want and need a thought through and reasoned answer) I am ignored. He does not have an office up here and only seems to hold ‘surgeries’ via social media – he is now (locally) known as ‘the invisible man’ especially because of his trips to Israel as opposed to his constituency – he has only ever voted with the Government, and belongs to the ‘friends of Israel’ which he finds more worthy than his constituents – clearly he is looking for a (junior) ministerial job where his constituents will not trouble him – yes, I have reported him to the Parliamentary Standards for not having the interests of his constituents at the centre of his focus but have been refused a meaningful answer- and – yes – I will take it further! Enid Blyton could have done better than he – locally he is widely ridiculed and disliked by most, even by those who voted for him!
Thanks, Susan.
Thanks Richard. My wife is excited by your chatgpt profile. But wonders if she should adapt it for others. Councillors obviously, for environmental and other local issues But perhaps ministers as well. Say David Lammy on Gaza. Too much?
Of course.
Change at will.
As far as I understand it you can’t write directly to a minister, only to your MP and ask them to pass it on to the appropriate minister. Unless, of course the minister happens to be your own MP. I wrote to my MP several weeks ago about the issue of payment of interest on reserves and he said he would forward it on the the Treasury. I have yet to receive a further response.
My own MP is one of the new 2024 Labour intake, replacing a Tory who had been in place forever. I immediately wrote to him and got a very positive reply, and I wrote several times again, but the replies took longer and longer until the last time when I got no reply. I guess these guys simply can’t reply to the thousands of emails they get every day. Unlike your goodself, Richard, I may say.
Could I please also reiterate that you must give your name, address and phone number when writing to your MP.
Thanks
Several years back I researched telephony usage: some 11million per OFCOM had no access. I am disabled and cannot use telephones for several reasons. Having a requirement for a telephone number is discriminatory and exclusionary.
When did not writing to Departmental ministers become banned? That is counter-intuitive. Also I have written to MPs other than my own who have ‘niche’ interests and received informed responses. When was writing to other MPs banned?
It is not banned.
Most just will not reply though, so I say don’t bother.
My apologies. I have cognitive disabilities. The 11m figure is number of disabled folk in UK in 2019. The actual figure for no-telephony was 1.4M in 2019.
Around one in ten disabled people said they were limited from using a landline phone or a simple mobile phone.
p.7 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/132962/Research-summary-all-disabilities.pdf
Disabled users access to and use of communication devices and services
Research summary: All disabled people
Published 14 January 2019
OFCOM
1:10 = 10%
People who are financially vulnerable… One per cent of households in this group say they have neither a landline nor a mobile in their household.
p.4 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/132912/Access-and-Inclusion-report-2018.pdf
Access and Inclusion in 2018
Consumers’ experiences in communications markets
OFCOM
However, the changes in the communications markets do present some significant challenges to consumers, including those whose ability to participate in communications markets and society may be affected by factors such as their age, disability or income, and there may be negative consequences:
p.6 op cit.
Impact of financial vulnerability on ownership of services and devices
Three in ten of the most financially vulnerable do not have household access to the internet, and some do not have access to any form of telephony
The most financially vulnerable group encompasses some of the most ‘digitally excluded’, with nearly three in ten living in a household without internet access, and 2% saying they don’t personally use any form of telephony.
p.28 op cit.
Number of disabled people
There are 14.1 million disabled people in the UK.
https://www.scope.org.uk/media/disability-facts-figures/
General demographics
There are over 11 million people with a limiting long term illness, impairment or disability 1.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-201819
10% (# no tel) of 21% (# disabled) = 2.1% of pop
Current population is 66.65M (2019 per ONS)
2.1% of 66.65M = 1,399,650 => 1.4M
OFCOM in 2019 said 10% of disabled had no access to telephones.
21% of UK pop. was disabled in 2018/19 per FRS.
UK pop. 2019 was 66.65M per ONS.
2.1% of 66.65M = 1,399,650 => 1.4M
Additionally, per OFCOM 1-2% of DE households have no access.
I think that is really important data people need to be aware of. Thank you.
I did have David Warburton as my MP
I also wrote a lot of letters to the local paper in those days
Before he was elected he did make an attempt to ‘get me on board’ which given that I am a left leaning Green was perhaps an early indicator of his judgement – or lack of.
I disagree you can only write to your constituency MP. If you want to have something done in your constituency , then clearly the local MP is best placed to do someting, and has the biggest incentive to be responsive, as you are a potential voter for them!
But citizens can write to any MP they want, and should do. Everyone knows different MPs have different political interests. For issues outside your constituency, identify the MP of whatever party who is active on your issue, and contact them.
Many will welcome external support, and/or ideas to take forward their favourite political issue(s).
Always make clear in the opening line if you are or not a constituent. If not, clearly identify in one line why it is you have chosen that particular MP to contact.
When I worked closely with MPs, with the MP or on my own, I met with representatives from lots of progressive lobbying non -governmental/ civil society groups, who had proactively contacted the MP’s office. We discussed campaign options, such as hosting parliamentary meeting, or crafting (in)pertinent written questions to seek information or to get a policy position set out in print.error course, in such collaborations there was never any financial benefits to the MP( as some stupid maps in the make try to do); rather the opposite, as they would often buy lunch or tea for the visiting lobbyists , and not on expenses either!
So, do write to the opposition spok people on issues asking them to raise political matters with ministers; do either write directly to ministers or via your constituency MP.
If you still have a local MP or local radio station or community WhatsApp group etc, if you get good service CE from your MP, let others know with a letter to the local paper, a contribution to a radio phone-in show, or a post on WhatsApp etc.
If the MP proves unhelpful, and despite best efforts they prove responsive, also let people know how bad they are and shame them into action!
Whatever you do, remember MPs are getting paid a princely £93,000 salary to serve the people. Make sure they earn it.
Theretically you are right David, but 99% will not reply to a non-constituent in my experience and I cannot encourage wasted effort.
David, I can only speak from my own experience. I wrote to the MP for a neighboring constituency and got a reply that he was only permitted to respond to residents of his own constituency. The same happened when I wrote to a cabinet minister who was MP for a far away constituency.
me too when I approached various MPs on behalf of 3 charities. My own (then) MP refused to help, others said I was not in their constituency – the only one who was helpful and who gave me some leads/contacts (this was early 1990s) was Diane Abbott – and I note that she will still not vote with the government if she feels it to be against her ethics.
I have known Diane for a long time, and rather like her.
My MP gets a relentless stream of emails from me, generally aided by my subscriptions to a range of NGOs (greenpeace, good law project, 38 degrees, possible, eko, amnesty, etc etc) that will allow me to simply add my details into a website, modify the email as appropriate and send. I’ll occasionally write something from scratch on a particularly new issue. My MP is quite good at replying, and I hope these efforts push her to make good choices (or at least understand someone is concerned in her area). They’re also fairly straightforward methods of sending emails if you want to do something similar.
I’ve written to my TORY mp over 5 times barely got a response to one and even that was an apology he’s been not dealing with things recently due to ill health. I’m like I HAVE to deal with things when I have ill health why the hell don’t he and I don’t bother to write any more because it’s like wasting my precious brain power on a over prillivaged idiot that has never been poor or disabled so why the hell would he bother to take any consideration over my matters. Never once will he take my issues over this pip fiasco, unemployment crisis or environmental crisis to the government. So what is the point I ask and this is the point what is the point if there is no point to which this is effectively breeding apathy because you make no dam of difference if your mp is anything other than a Green Party member (not sure of any other party who hopes to care is at the moment)
Communication is Everything. Without it nothing happens!
I write to my MP regularly. He is a neo lib Labour man and I have been sending him more letters recently based around PIP. Low and behold, I saw his name appeared in opposition to the bill. Obviously it may not have been my letters that did the trick, more likely something to do with his constituency is now totally Reform led. But it was a change and a good one at that. It will be interesting to see if he follows it through. I did congratulate him on his coming out!
Claire at 1pm: I feel your frustration. ☹️You don’t say what party your own constituency MP represents. I think you should write to the leader of your MP’s party explaining you have written several times to your own local MP, but they are not replying. Request the leader speak to the MP and require them to reply, which is what they are paid £93,000 a year to do. You could look up on the internet who is the chief whip of your MP’s party, and copy the letter to the leader to them.
I think this political kick up the backside will secure you a response …and an apology.
Your MP being ill is no excuse not to reply. I worked for an MP who was dying of a brain tumour, but his staff including myself kept his service to his constituency running until he died five months later.
I like that…
“Finally, do remember that democracy does require your involvement. It is not a spectator sport. It is a process requiring active participation. Sending letters is a key component in that, and for that reason, I think that this is worth doing.”
Thank you for saying this, I find it sad so many sink into cynicism and do nothing. I write to my MP regularly still even though I have not lived in UK for 15 years, it is still the only place I can vote in a national election . (If only voting was related to where a person actually resides…). My Norfolk MP is a straight boring Tory but after the initial automated reply he always replies, often with some thought even if in the opposite of what I think, but at least he replies. Yesterday in heat and whilst wilting I just copied your entire set of questions , I doubt I shall get a sensible reply.
And as for Chatgpt, why not ? My father complained of my having log tables saying he had to work out his own ( I doubt this of course but it was his joke probably), and I also had a slide rule. Then my children had calculators. Now my grandchildren have Chatgpt, and more, this is just progress nothing more. We have an old Landrover Defender, it was first conceived in 1948 by a bloke who drew a picture in the sand. Do some people want to go back to beach arithmetic and quills ?
You are so realistic.
I tru to explain slide rules to young people and they think it must be something from the Dark ages, or even the Iron age. Progress happens.
I have often written to my MPs, the last one told me that he wouldn’t respond to left wing template letters, so I started using my own words and often got responses even if I didn’t like the response. Since then I have moved and my local labour MP has not acknowledged or replied to any of my letters. I like the idea of a chat GPT prompt. I take the view that much like combating racism, you have to let people know that you don’t agree with them. If more people wrote I think MPs might at least reconsider their views.
Thanks, and much to agree with
As I am on PIP I wrote to my MP about it, and I didn’t even get a response…But now I know he voted Aye today.
Write again…
Once upon a time I used to write to my MP regularly, and always got a timely and thoughtful response. Jeremy Corbyn was my MP then. Now my MP is a new intake Labour drone and I get nothing. It is far from clear he knows what he is for, and I’m certainly none the wiser
I write to my MP regularly too, most recently about the Pathways to Work consultation and the Access to Work debacle. I’ve found them to be receptive, sometimes replying directly or via their caseworker, and even arranging a Teams meeting a few months ago. They asked me to keep them updated on any developments, which I really appreciated.
I’ve been writing to MPs, MSPs, and councillors since I had my first flat back in 1990. One of my favourites over the years was John Barrett (Lib Dem), always helpful and engaged.
And like you, I use ChatGPT as an aide, especially as I experience brain fog, to help me be clearer and more concise in my writing. But I always add a human touch. The tools themselves aren’t the problem, it’s how you use them. It’s still your voice and your message.
Your reminder that democracy is not a spectator sport really resonates. Writing may not change everything, but it helps me stay connected and feel like I’m doing something, and that matters.
Thanks, and good luck.
I’m lucky, my MP has an office nearby and I plan to arrange a meeting. She’s Lib Dem by the way…
Unfortunately I live in New Forest East Constituency with Julian Lewis as my MP. He states that he sees no reason to have an email address for constituents. His office is about 3 miles away from my home so I generally put letters through his door but people with mobility issues who find it difficult to reach a post box, let alone afford the price of a stamp are discriminated against of course.
Totally unsuited to hold office.
Report him to the Speaker.
Due to my inability to use telephones nor to physically write letters, (I am severely disabled), I use email for communicating with official bodies. Eventually even managed to have the DWP communicate with me via email – although apparently these communications are insecure per DWP. Using email is a reasonable adjustment under equality legislation, even if insecure! The MP, or any public body or agency, who/which refuses ought to be referred to EHRC on the grounds of discrimination. That way the EHRC becomes aware that there is an issue to be investigated.
Thanks
That is certainly ridiculous, Bridget! A temporary workaround while you report them is to use https://www.writetothem.com/, which I like because it follows up after a couple of weeks to ask if you’ve received a reply. Their FAQ states…
“We check whether users receive a reply, and hold representatives to account if they never respond.” – Although I’m not quite sure how. The reminders however, are very useful.
The last time I wrote to my MP was on 30th May and I received a long automated response which included the following –
“My office receives hundreds of emails each day. We aim to provide an initial response to correspondence within the following timeframes:
Casework enquiries: up to 4 weeks
Policy and campaign correspondence: up to 8 weeks”
I still await an actual response, whereas you, Richard, always respond within hours.
I feel virtuous for once
I used to live in Dartford, my Tory MP there always replied to my emails even though his replies showed how little understanding he had of the issues I was bringing up. Then I moved to Harwich, again the Tory MP replied politely even though I did not like his replies. Last election, boundary changes told me I was now in the Clacton Constituency, the current MP there has never replied to any of my emails.