Political letter from my gp telling who to vote for

It's true that going on strike is an imposition of our views on the school community. I just don't think that as a teacher, you should be telling the school community who to vote for - one way or another.

How is going on strike not imposing your views on the school community?
Local mp where I live sends letters home to parents via school telling them how great he is. If he can, it's fair game.

I think this too and I also suspect it wasn’t telling her who to vote for but asking or advocating for, I guess though that would not have been enough for a thread, so a little hyperbole to aid it on its way.

You would not have received a personal letter from your GP telling you who to vote for.

Completely sure

It really is worrying when you read some of the nonsense that has been spouted on here. I would be embarrassed to have such a poor grasp of the political process in my own country.

Suddenly the Brexit vote and the rise of Reform is making a lot more sense. Some of the ignorance on here is worrying.

No one is high-handedly telling anyone how to vote. No one is letting their political leanings affect the execution of their profession.

People are campaigning. That's part of the build up to an election. There is no reason at all to suppose there is a breach of GDPR. High profile member of the community have always been used by political parties to try and persuade people to their side. It is not a problem.

Your GP, your academy school, your milkman does not need to be politically neutral; they aren't the BBC.

There is no GDPR breach. All candidates have access to the closed register. You can take yourself off the open register but all that means is that your data can't be accessed by companies sending out marketing stuff.

Political parties have access to the electoral roll, and can target campaigns based on that. It's NOT a breach of GDPR.

Local candidates often ask community/business leaders to send out letters of endorsement, and these are posted to addresses on the electoral roll.
So there's really no need to be paranoid about this activity.

Bear in mind though, as Reform is not a political party (it's a private company controlled by you know who) it does not have access to the electoral roll. You'll likely get general literature from Reform candidates dropped through your letterbox but if you find something specifically addressed to you from Reform then that would be worth questioning where they got their details from.

This thread is verging on electoral misinformation. It has stirred up anger with no evidence that anything illegal - or unethical - has happened.

@FluffyJellyCat should fish the letter out of the recycling and check for an imprint.

The original post presses a lot of emotional buttons - implying that someone with power is telling the rest of us what to do.

This isn't what is happening during a campaign!

Election leaflets are not making you do anything. It's a private ballot and we get to make up our own minds. But it is better if people from all walks of life - including nurses, doctors, teachers and solicitors - can contribute to our civic conversation.

I have to admit that I love elections. I love the madness of the campaign literature, and the flying squads of party footsoldiers turning up in towns and villages across the country to get the vote out, with their packed lunches. I love the photos of dogs outside polling stations, and nuns going to vote! It's always a great day - when we get to have our say.

There is no proof that this is what happened though. Even the OP thinks it's highly unlikely!

However adding to my previous post.

If this letter is in fact sent by a political party using the electoral register and the GP is an endorser then that's quite different from them scccessing your patient record and writing to you as a patient.

The first is completely legit.

Thats outrageous

Mega data breach that one.

No your gp is not allowed to access your name and address for political campaigning.

ICO and Electoral Commission should be complained to.

However this is about a GP actually telling someone who they should vote for

It doesn’t matter where they got the name and address from. This is about telling a patient who to vote for and that is completely unacceptable

However this is about a campaigner who happens to be a GP actually suggesting to someone who they should vote for

It matters where they got the name and address from because if it was from their surgery database it would be completely inappropriate but we have no evidence this has happened. This is about suggesting to a constituent who also happens to be a patient who to vote for and that is completely acceptable

I fixed it for you

Again - all candidates have a free mailing to the whole electoral register. Your opt out is from the version sold to anyone for marketing purposes.

No breach of GDPR. Please do some research into how elections work before bandying this tripe around.

You sure about that? We must be reading a totally different BMJ...

I think that as a teacher or GP or anyone in a similar position, keeping everything professional and not communicating about anything other than what their job entails should be a given.
If they want to discuss politics then that is what friends are for.

However this is about a GP actually telling someone who they should vote for

It doesn’t matter where they got the name and address from. This is about telling a patient who to vote for and that is completely unacceptable

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/political-registration-and-regulation/imprints/imprints-printed-election-material

Printed election-related letters need an imprint by law.

Is it telling you to vote or asking you to vote for a given party. Two different things.

I know they are a medical journal. They published an article on not publicising political leanings, never mind telling patients who to vote for

All details on the electoral register are available to registered political parties.

The not being public part does not apply to them. So no breach of GDPR. It just means that random members of the public or businesses can't look you up.

In the same way that political parties have the right to deliver literature and knock on doors even if there is a notice on the door saying no leaflets/junk mail/cold callers etc.

You are conflating 'ever treated ongoing treatment. A&E admission by their nature tend to be of very limited duration.
Ongoing therapeutic alliances where someone is a long-term gatekeeper to future access to care is a whole different power dynamic.

It’s a legitimate campaign tool

Only if it has an imprint on it.

Did the letter carry an imprint, @FluffyJellyCat? It's in small print usually, and gives a name and address and name of the party.

I think it depends entirely on the letter.

If it’s on a practice (practise? I never get these the right way round) letterhead and they’ve got your address from your medical records then that is clearly wrong on several fronts.

If it’s from a GP, who coincidentally happens to be yours, they’re writing to as many people as they can, in their own time and as an independent individual, and they’ve got your details from the electoral roll, then I wouldn’t have too much of a problem with it. Reading manifestos isn’t something that all voters do and it’s good to hear how a particular field will be impacted by someone who knows what they’re talking about, particularly if they’re disclosing their profession to make it clear that they do, in fact, have a decent understanding and aren’t just reeling off stuff the MP’s have come up with.

I’d be more inclined to have an issue if the letter was ‘vote for A’ than if it was ‘If you vote for B, these will be the consequences for your GP surgery’.

I received a personally addressed campaign leaflet from the LibDems - I've no involvement with them, and I tick the NO option on the electoral register so my details should not be public.

I have no idea how they got my details to contact me this way, but whatever it is it must be a breach of GDPR.