How to contact an MP 2011-style: Do it 1911-style

If you want to get your MPs attention, write them a letter. Don’t “like” them, don’t give them +1s or retweets, and certainly don’t post comments on their YouTube videos. Dust off your primary school textbooks on whose address goes where, and don’t forget to end “yours sincerely”.

This is according to a report released by PR firm Edelman, who surveyed 91 MP’s staff members to find out the best and worst ways to get their attention.

Although the majority of the report is concerned with campaigning methods, from twitter to face-to-face meetings, the most interesting results were those for the question, “How important are each of the following in turning a policy issue into a policy priority for you?”:

Politics remains, fundamentally, local. For some, this will be common knowledge, but it is instructive for those fed up with the ineffectiveness of campaigns run through appeal to weighty national interests: appeal to the economy, or tell your targets how it affects their local area.

But once you’ve written your perfectly targeted campaign, how should you get it to your MP?

The response to the question, “When constituents contact your member, how effective are each of the following modes of contact?” can help.

Largely, the old methods remain the best. All the various forms of personal contact – writing, phoning, or meeting in person – are head and shoulders above the rest.

Social media is noteable less for its effectiveness as it is for its rapid rise. While two years ago, less than one in ten surveyed could could Twitter being effective or very effective, now it is over a third.

Whether this rise will tail off or continue is anyone’s guess; however, based on track record, it may not be best to listen to staffers’ predictions on that matter.

Not a single staffer surveyed last year thought they’d be using twitter by 2013, but this year over 40 per cent think they’ll be using it by 2014. Politically aware they maybe, but when it comes to predicting technological trends, MPs and their staff seem just as swayed by fads as the rest of us.

So to be an effective campaigner, the old rules remain as true as ever: work on a personal, local level.

Don’t be distracted by new tools which seem to make life easier to contact many people at once, because even if the politicians themselves like them, chances are they’re more likely to read a letter or listen to a phone call.

And don’t invest in start-ups on the advice of an MP.

See also:

• What kind of “civil disobedience” tactics will the unions use? – Dan Whittle, September 15th 2011

• 36 hours in Old & Sad – Dave Roberts, January 15th 2011

• Fighting the cuts: The false choice between networks and organisation – Nigel Stanley, December 2nd 2010

• Suffragettes remain campaigning role-models a century later – Deborah Grayson, October 10th 2010

• Community campaigning is Labour’s messy futureDr Jon Wilson, September 30th 2010