We’re going to let you into a little secret:::::: MPs have very little influence at the local level, and sometimes may even make things worse, but you need to understand them to engage with them.
The syndicate is largely neutral around politics, this is very much from experience at the local level where collectively we have found Councillors tend to act similar, regardless of party. This is even more apparent when your find out how common it is for Councillors to swap parties so that they can have some power.
That said, for largely ideological reasons Conservative MPs maybe the least helpful on public sector, environmental and climate matters, so be extra sceptical about them.
MPs can be useful, but at the local level they can waste public service time by making organisations respond to enquiries when they could be delivering services. If you contact your MP about a local matter several things will happen; this is in order of what is most likely to happen:
1) The MPs researcher will just pass the enquiry onto the local public body and then just forward on the response they receive to you. You could have done this yourself.
2) The enquiry will mean that the Leader, Chair or Chief Executive of a body may hear about your issue. Again you could just email or write to them directly to do this yourself.
3) If the MP is from a different party to the one that leads the relevant local Council, the MP may just use your enquiry to score political points. If this is the case, it will most likely involve a tweet, perhaps a photo opportunity or something to include in a future election leaflet.
4) If the matter could score political points your MP may mention it in Parliament.
5) Your MP may associate with the matter and support you.
There are caveats to this
a. some MPs have additional roles such being on the Environmental Select Committee, or
b. if there is a debate coming up, they may raise your matter in the debate.
or
c. If you are careful you can get them on your side!
Your mission if you choose to accept it is to find out what your MP has actually done to support Climate and Environmental matters.
Here are some tips:
- Go to https://www.theyworkforyou.com to find out what they vote on. Register to receive email updates, it is a great way to find out what they say in debates and how they vote.
- Look at their website and read their newsletters
- Follow them on social media (facebook and Twitter)
- Setup a Google Alert (Search Google Alerts and follow the instructions)
Remember it is what your MP votes on that counts, there is no point critizing the Local Public Bodies if the MP doesn’t go on to vote to provide more funding, improve the law or actively support local schemes. But like anyone, the best way to engage with your MP is to understand them and unlike most people this is often on the public record.
