the new political landscape

Submitted by Jonathan on Fri Jul 9, 2010

As we all know, we are currently living under the governance of a hung parliament. How will this affect your e-campaigning tactics and strategy going forward? Will the coalition crumble at the first sign of opposition or will it be here for the full five years? At the moment, no one really knows (though it will be fun to watch!). The length and success of the coalition government will drive your organisation’s strategy considerably. Will you be building relationships with MPs for years to come or will you be getting back to election campaigning if we all go to the polls again in a few months time? You will need to be very reactive to the situation.

A new class

About a third of the current crop of MPs are new to parliament – 232 in all. They are from different backgrounds and are as young as 26 in some constituencies (Airdrie and Shotts MP, Pamela Nash). This means that campaigning organisations are talking to a group of politicians who may never have been contacted by their constituents on charity issues before. This really is the time to get in front of them and get your voice heard. Soon.

Policies

The coalition has committed to tacking the national debt, meaning that funding for your organisation’s causes may be cut to finance the repayments. It’s more vital now than ever to make sure your issues are really in front of MPs and the government. If you know that certain MPs are supportive (maybe they pledged to help you during the election), make sure you use their support in any way you can. For example, get them to support bills, sign Early Day Motions or join relevant All Party Parliamentary Groups.

The role of each MP has been amplified – take action!

In the past, even if ‘back-benchers’ voted the other way, bills generally were passed, due to the fact that Labour had such a big majority. Similar ‘revolts’ now could cause major issues. Your organisation needs to use this fractured decision making process to your benefit. If you know certain MPs are involved in committees or groups or are interested in certain issues, get your supporters to send messages to them with relevant questions, comments or asks. Pull in party specific issues and local statistics too. Get your supporters to be personal with their MPs. This will help get the message across and could really impact on your campaign’s success, or lack of it.

Be direct

Running alongside supporter based actions, you should also consider sending emails directly to MPs asking them to support your cause, come to an event or just download some materials. Segmenting email communication based on personal information and past activity can help your open rate and participation rate email stats, just as with your supporters. On the subject of supporter emails… how many of you know the constituencies that your supporters live in? If you don’t, you should and then use this information to send out targeted emails at vital times. For example, if a bill is being passed, you know that certain MPs are wavering and you also know that you have a sizable number of supporters in those constituencies, you should send an email just to these people, asking them to take action and convince the MP(s) to back your campaign. Segmenting like this can have a great lobbying impact but it can also help to engage your supporters as they will really feel like they are making a difference.

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