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Lobbying boils down to persuading someone to get them to do what you want.
Top Tips
- Start with a letter to whomever you’re lobbying
- Have some specific requests
- If you get their support, use it for publicity
There are several ways of doing this, some more gentle than others.
Lobbying targets include your MP or MEP, specific ministers, or Sixth Form figures like your Head of Sixth Form or Catering Manager. So where do you start? Here we talk mostly about MPs but you can use this advice for most targets.
“If you go to one demonstration and then go home, that’s something, but the people in power can live with that. What they can´t live with is sustained pressure that keeps building, organisations that keep doing things, people that keep learning lessons from the last time and doing better the next time.”
Noam Chomsky
The natural first step in any lobbying exercise is to write to the person with the power to resolve the situation. Often you will receive a standard reply with little relevance to the original points that you raised, in which case you should persist - write back asking for relevant answers. You can avoid it in the first place by asking specific questions and inquiring about your MP’s personal opinion. Try spreading letter writing around the group with each person addressing only one important point in their letter. Your MP has the power to do several things: ask oral and written questions, write to a Government Minister on your behalf, or sign an Early Day Motion. More on writing the wrong
Face to face
If your letter doesn’t get the results you are looking for, or just to emphasize your point, arrange a face to face meeting. MPs, for example, hold regular ‘surgeries’ for their constituents. These are often advertised in the local paper. You will also be able to find out times from their constituency office (look in the phone book). Make an appointment in advance if you can, or turn up early! More on face to face lobbying
Spreading the word
If you don´t think your voice is being listened to - take your message out to get more support and raise awareness!
- Petitioning - shows more support and involves more people.
- Open meetings - MPs need to show their faces at public meetings, so take advantage!
- Photo opportunities - cook one up if your MP is sympathetic.
- Actions - sometimes you need to be more direct to catch someone influential’s attention…
- Letters to the press - try shaming an uncooperative MP into action!
Don’t just accept ‘no’ for an answer - engage in more correspondence, meetings or actions, always bringing more people on board. Think of creative ways to raise the stakes and increase pressure. Lobbying is a cumulative process: your individual action may not seem so grand at times, but alongside similar actions across the country it forms an important political influence.
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