Political letter from my gp telling who to vote for

[FluffyJellyCat]

Is this even allowed? The gp isn't wrong in what he is saying. But how did he get my personal data to write to me? It's a proper letter addressed to me at my address. Could he access my data for a local election?

Conflict of interest? Gdpr? I'm not going to complain because I have enought going on in my life. But surely this isn't allowed?

What next? The schools head telling me who to vote for?

Yes that's what I assume.

I also got a letter from a local gp, urging me to vote for the local liberal.

In tiny letters at the bottom it says done by the liberal party. It's pre printed not hand written (though very very hard to read)

Why? What makes you think clergy should be politically neutral?

Any vicar might chose not to be too open and their own intentions in case it causes too much argument but there's nothing inappropriate in them being clear about it if they want to.

My previous priest was a Tory! Not from the pulpit though.

There are bishops in the actual House of Lords, so the idea that the Church of England is not political is surprising.

Not too sure but voting for them for change

Not all change is good. They want to remove the nhs. Still think they will invest in social care?

Look at greens as well if you want to shake up the big two and make the case for public services.

The reason a lot of people on this thread think this is fine is because they think that GPs and schools will be urging people to vote Labour. I bet if they thought the letters were urging people to vote Reform they would be less keen.

A patronising letter telling me how I should be voting, written from an upstanding member of the community, wouldn’t change the way I voted but it would change the way I viewed the person who sent it. A lot of people like to be told what to think though so maybe it works.

But why do you consider it different from any campaign literature? It can't be a surprise to you that GPs are people with their own political views?

If I received send campaign literature from my GP it wouldn't be from him to me as one if his patients as this wasn't. It would be a letter from a local doctor who also happens to be my GP and it would be telling me who to vote for, any more than any other leaflet it telling me. It's just more advertising.

If my GP was urging everyone to vote Reform I'd think he was a bit of a dick but it wouldn't offend me that he was campaigning for them or make me think it was inappropriate. If he lives in the constituency he's entitled to campaign for whoever he likes.

This. I can't see what is wrong with it - they can't force you to vote for anyone, it's up to you. Surely you are capable of simply throwing the letter away.

As for your address - they have it on file!

What a fuss and drama about nothing.

Exactly. I had no idea people put GPs on such a pedestal and considered them so influential it becomes inappropriate of them to join a political campaign.

I like my GP, I respect him as a fellow human and someone who does a good job. I don't think of him like royalty and that he sits above me with such influence he has to remain silent on politics. It's really odd.

Is it much different to them turning out at local events /hustings or say standing on the high street on a Saturday shouting out their opinions. We're all free to do that I think.

My child's school did the same in the newsletter last week. The comments were from the bishop. It surprised me. The

@DappledThings I don’t really care that much because it makes no difference to me, but it does make me cringe and lose respect for them.

Why? Because he's a doctor? Is there a list of professions that could join a campaign and not make you lose respect for them or is it just doctors you out in that category?

Do you think it's only the actual candidates who should put their name to any campaign literature Or are other people allowed to as long as they aren't doctors?

What if he was standing handing out leaflets. Is that OK or is that also cringey?

I don't understand your reasoning at all and I'm genuinely interested in why you find it inappropriate.

Happy voting today!

Oh do you mean like labour & Tories claiming for duck houses, cat food & ginger crinkles! If Richard Tice is using his own money to fund his party shows how committed he is- anyway they have just had a huge donation of an Asian chap 😊 I don’t think Farage is any worse than any of those other party members- Angela Rayner with her second home- thats all gone quiet 🤫 Don’t forget Reform is only just getting off the ground, you have to start somewhere.. bet people said about labour all those years ago. Probably won’t do much but you sometimes needs to take a chance on new blood. Good luck Reform today

Angela Rayner is going to be excellent in government!

She's a superb communicator and really, really cares.

It's also wonderful - inspiring - to see a woman from an unprivileged background get to the very top. Not through student politics or working as a special adviser, but graft!

It's a bit strange, with the data and political agenda, but it could be useful to know from a GPs perspective which political party they believe to be the best positioned, presumably with healthcare in mind. The newspapers tell people who to vote for without scrutiny. It's still up to the individual though.

Our current prime minster is a second generation immigrant who didn’t follow the SPAD or student politics path. That’s pretty inspiring. More so than being a middle class tool makers son at least ;)

It’s ironic really that since the beginning of time the political party that has embraced diversity the most is the Tory party. Three female PMs (admittedly one was a shocker), one Asian and a working class boy from the circus all in the last 40 years. The best Labour have managed from a PM or leader perspective is a bunch of stale white males. Mostly privately educated, mostly lawyers…. Of course they champion diversity in the ranks…but don’t let them near the top!

On the GP letter front, I agree it just doesn’t feel right - a bit grubby and patronising. In a ‘doctor knows best’ kind of way. But perhaps that’s because in most of our professional and corporate lives we keep our political views to ourselves. You don’t see lawyers, accountants, pilots or surgeons for example broadcasting their views widely. It’s better to remind neutral and pitch your services at as a wide a customer base as possible. Yet for teachers and doctors, who broadly work in a monopoly environment where they don’t have to consider such niceties or customers, it’s seen as fair game - almost a duty in some cases. And in my experience it alienates more people than it attracts - and certainly makes people think less of them as a professional. Though, all the doctors I know are blue through and through, which I don’t understand either!

Oh, I'm well aware of the Labour Party's diversity problem!

Angela Rayner is clever and able, and the trade union movement gave her a route to a great career. I'm not sure how the Conservative Party would have talent-spotted her.

I guess there will be a lot of openings in the next Commons and the one after that for rising Conservative talent...