Writing to your local MP

May you read this in the best of health

It is my beliefs that as a democratic society, we need to let our local MP or Minister know of our predicaments if we come across any. In fact, as a community, we can band together to highlight the challenges we face in our daily lives to the person/s nominated to represent us. And finally, thanking or pointing out incorrect facts to the relevant members put forward our collective principles as a member of society to any issue we deem close to our hearts.

Living in democratic societies has led to my position that members of a democratic society have the right to contact their respective representatives of parliament. Therefore, I have collated a summary of how best to write to your local MPs and/or Senators or Ministers to get your point across so as to assist you or your community better. As the parliamentary systems where I have lived or is currently living has its roots to the British system, the information gathered is suitable to apply across the Lion City and Down Under.

Not to say that you should only write to your representatives, meeting them face-to-face on urgent issues or calling their offices are the best ways to resolve them expeditiously. However, the logistics of meeting an MP and the non-urgency of the issue at hand means that writing to them is the best way. Furthermore a paper trail is always the best method to keep track of for both the writer and representatives. 

Format of your letter should be similar (if not the same) as below
<Your name>
<Your address>
<Your email address (if applicable)>
<Your MPs name, including title>
<The constituency they represent OR>
<The committee they belong to/chair>

<Topic of your letter. If this is about a specific legislation (an Act) or a proposed law (a Bill), state the full name of the Act/Bill>

<Introductory paragraph. If this is your first letter to the member, introduce yourself and then a clear statement of purpose,
-          “I am writing to request your support/opposition to…”
-          “The purpose of this letter is to acknowledge and thank you...”
-          “This letter has been written to point out to you…”
This initial paragraph is where you engage the MP through the statement above and state the challenge you or your community is facing. Let them know how widespread the problem is and the consequence it had or could have.>

<Body of the letter. Remember to keep to the specific topic and avoid more than 3 points of elaboration to the issue at hand. Presenting solutions with evidence of it’s effectiveness puts you in a better position than ranting. At this stage, pointless accusations, wishful-thinking and whingeing will get you nowhere. Remain polite even if you feel the MP doesn’t deserve the position and do check your facts before criticizing the position of the MP or the party; they will get irritated being accused of something they are not. If your research sheds no clue, convince them why they should support your view.
Remember to keep within the 3 points. Beyond it, add a personal story, wherever possible, how the issue at hand affects you, your family or your community. This can be effective to generate the appeal that your letter is trying to achieve. If you have ever met them, contributed to them taking up the office or voted for them, say so. The closer your MP can relate to you, the higher the impact your letter has on them.>

<Action time. Now that you have stated your position and ‘connected’ to your representative, let them know what you want them to do. This could be to bring the matter to the attention of the Minister, support/oppose a legislation/bill or put systems into place to improve the challenges you have highlighted.>

<Ask for a response. Now that you have made your point across and requested an action on your behalf, you will need to be updated on the action/s taken. It is also imperative that you ask for a response otherwise any action taken behind-the-scenes is not communicated to you. The response will usually be in the form of another letter, written or authorized by the MP’s office. When you do receive them, note that your action has caused a reaction from the representative even if you cannot see the results.>

<Acknowledge and thanks. If you write a letter in support of the MP, he/she will be encouraged by the gesture and stand firm on their position with your written support backing his/her position. Even if the change you expect didn’t arrive, your representative knows that he/she can rely on his/her constituents in supporting the matter should the next opportunity arrive.>

Yours sincerely,

<Your signature>

Keep the letter short to a page or a page and a half and be succinct in the write-up. Follow up with your MP if you have not received an acknowledgement/reply from his office after a few weeks.

A useful tip in getting a reply or action taken is to carbon copy the letter to the shadow minister (opposition party) if the matter relates to a national concern. Do so with the following annotation at the end of your letter

Cc: <Name and title of shadow minister>

This will add the political will of the opposition to act on your behalf when the government of the day has been found wanting.

Be polite and courteous in the correspondence and do not put down what the representative stands for. Your member has been elected for the platforms he stood up for so if you annoy him with such misdemeanour, you may mean little to his eyes.

Lastly, a handwritten note has the added touch of personalization as long as the writing is legible.

[Sources]
https://www.efa.org.au/get-involved/lobbying/
https://www.results.org.uk/

PeAcE OuT

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