Has anyone written to their MP?

[OK2023]

I have an email to my new MP sitting in my drafts, which I don’t think I will ever send.

Has anyone had a positive response from writing to their MP?

I don’t feel very hopeful that it will make a difference and I’m not sure that I want to get emotionally invested in a long debate about it either.

Does it really help?

YES it jolly well does!

How do you think we got so far if not through petitioning our mps and explaining the conflict of rights?
And even if you get no response it still means a voice counted.

What really doesnt help is not doing it and defeatism.

If everyone here wrote as many letters to MPs Editors HOL NHS CEOs etc even a fraction of as much as they comment here, I can guarante it this would be over a lot faster.

I'm sorry but this post frustrates me a great deal.
Too few are doing all the hard work, while too many dont.
Its the least any of us can do.
If we dont make use of the democratic process, then we lose it.

What do you call a positive response?

I've never had one saying "yes I totally agree with you and I'll campaign in parliament, starting straight away"

But I've had some very considered replies

I wrote to all my MSPs over the GRA. It was very enlightening - hadn't come across Maggie Chapman before then, her views did not align with it's my own.

Yes, about 7 years ago, and the MP in question set up a secret meeting with a group of us (gender critical women) to find out more. Not because of my email, necessarily - I'm not taking credit at all!

I email my local MP weekly. I get no reply but it takes seconds so I'll keep at it. My thinking is if enough of us do it, they may not respond but they will know how women feel. Plus I genuinely do believe the tide is turning and we need to do what we can no matter how small that is.

I always message the same thing.

As my representative do you support women when we say we do not want biological men in our single sex spaces however they present or identify, and regardless of what certificates they have?

Another poster on a thread a while back said "My words mean nothing to you but I'll say them anyway". That's sums up how I feel. I won't shut up just because they ignore me.

Yes it potentially can. If your new MP is Labour there is a big internal war over gender going on. Push them to get on the pro-woman side. Say it is great that Labour are backing the Cass report, attack the TA position as unscientific etc.

With the Tories the fight for the next leader is on - again pro-woman policy could be one factor in who gets in.

Even Green/Lib Dems lots to be said.Lib Dems just admitted in court they persecuted a member for believing in biology. Greens full of division too.

Yes, once, over ten years ago, and got a personal reply.

Yes, I emailed my MSP and we had a long email conversation. He was for self ID for this 'most marginalised and vulnerable group', but at least he listened and we exchanged several emails, always polite. Neither of us gave way, but at least he knows how some of his constituents feel.
when Sturgeon was brought down I toyed down with the idea of an 'I told you so' email, but resisted .

Of course, how else will they know what their constituents want!

Email, make sure that what you write is very reasoned, educated and clear. Don’t give any reason for them to dismiss you as bigoted. If there’s a particular ask you have of them right now, be clear what it is.

You almost certainly won’t get in to a debate, they don’t have the time for that. You want to plant a seed, which may be joining with lots of others already planted or may be new to that particular MP. Lay that groundwork, email again as developments arise.

Yes- always write to your MP. Inform them, politely, succinctly, and with as much evidence as you can give them. Email repeatedly and copy in ministers if your constituency MP isn’t replying. Polite persistence. They can’t represent you otherwise.

Yes,(a female Tory MP),and was pretty much called transphobic and was told that I had nothing to fear from trans women in single sex spaces. I replied,but of course,was ignored after that.
However,due to boundary changes,my MP( male Tory) has changed. I will email him and see how the land lies.
He comes from a farming family,so I 'm cautiously optimistic that he'll not been caught up in gender woo.
Thanks for the push to do something!

Even better if a lot of local voters write on the same issue around the same time.

Yes, I wrote to my new Labour MP saying how glad I was that Wes Streeting was continuing the ban on puberty blockers and he sent back an encouraging email saying he agreed and he worked with young children who were gender questioning and thought they should be given space to grow up without medical intervention. However, as others have said, let them know what you think otherwise they'll keep saying 'it never comes up in the doorstep' and 'it's not something my constituents are concerned about'.

Don't wait until you think they'll give you a round of applause, raise the issues and let them know.their constituents care. Then persist. This is how a democracy works.

I would say that the responses over time have changed somewhat, from MP and MSPs. I used to get right arrogant, rude pish back. Now it's ... somewhat tempered.

Yes, frequently. On a few issues but on the issue of single-sex spaces most recently (new Labour mp).
Pleasantly surprised by the reply.

You should send it. They are public servants working for you. They need to know your views.

Also OP it’s easier if you email with low expectations of what will be in the reply, or if you will get a reply at all. This is going to be the first of many many emails on the subject that you will be sending to all kinds of people in power, hopefully.

Could you flip it so that your determination to be persistent, is your emotional investment? This is going to be a long game but the last ten years have shown that the tanker can slowly begin to be turned around, even in a very hostile climate. That was begun by women, a lot of them on here, making noise on social media, writing emails, holding public meetings, meeting in their own groups, sending information to people, asking for meetings with influential people, alerting journalists to what was happening.

We have to convince MPs and judges because they affect the laws of the land which are ultimately what will uphold women and girls rights more securely. But there’s also a lot of work to do convincing the public, the media and public organisations that this is an issue.

So your emotional investment needs to be in yourself really, to see yourself through what can be a very long process of years until there is legal change or another kind of change that you can see. There are so many ways to be influential and this is such an important issue, I’d say absolutely none of them would be a waste of time. The only waste of time would be saying nothing.

Don’t do this. I used to work in an MP’s office, and I’m fairly confident this poster’s email address will be on the “straight to junk” list, which is why she doesn’t get any replies. By all means email your MP, but don’t send the same formulaic message every week.

'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has'.

Margaret Mead

I wrote to my Labour candidate 3 days before the election got a brilliant balanced response, voted for him. It’s ALWAYS been a safe Tory seat, Labour MP got in!!!! Totally unexpected thanks (??) to Reform. I sent up a follow up email saying congratulations but remember my points as you move forward. He replied again asking me to continue to email him.

My DH then joked about my romance with our MP. 😂

@Greenbike got to ask but do MPs actually write any of the responses or is ir someone on their team? I did wonder???

I only worked for one MP over a decade ago, so I can’t speak for everyone. But the average MP will get several hundred emails a day, possibly more than a thousand. Answering emails isn’t even their main job! So it’s safe to assume that most responses come from staff.

It also depends on their other jobs. If your MP is a random backbencher, then they probably deal with a lot of casework themselves, and if you’re a constituent and you write something thoughtful about a policy issue, or you have complex casework, there’s a good chance they’re personally involved. If your MP is Keir Starmer then they probably won’t be!

Sometimes on here you see people say “xyz is a good/bad MP, because they always/sometimes/never answer my emails.” That’s probably more a reflection of whether the MP runs an efficient office than how responsive they are personally.

I'm pretty sure my answer came directly from my MP. He specifically said he didn't want to leave it to a staff member to reply and the reply was obviously personal to him. I did email my previous Tory MP a number of times and she responded with more cut and paste what the party policy was.

I wrote to my MP about the decapitate terfs sign. The response was very measured and although it made no mention about the wider issues, it did appear that the MP agreed that MPs and MSPs should not pose underneath or be otherwise associated with such a sign.

This is appalling.

What would have been the reason for ignoring the first email?

What do you recommend as a strategy if you write and get no reply? Isn't it reasonable to write again with a similar question preceded by something like 'I haven't had a reply to my earlier email'? I think I have done this, and got a reply to the second email.

How would they know it was always the same message if the constituent's email has been blacklisted? They might be writing about something completely different the second, third and subsequent times.

The MP isn't really representing all their constituents if they blacklist ones who ask questions they don't like and refuse to engage with them on any issues.