Brexit Facts4eu.org "Brexit Battle Pack" - Part 6:

Putting Theory Into Practice - First Compartment: Tools for Contacting MPs

Toolbox

PLEASE NOTE: This action pack was written in 2018 but the same principles apply today. To see the latest factsheets which you may wish to incorporate, please click here.

Before you contact an MP or the media, we strongly recommend reading our advice above. General communication advice is here. There is also some specific advice about dealing with MPs here and with the media here.

Contacting more than one MP

If you wish to contact more than one MP, you can do this if you have friends or family in other constituencies and if they agree with your Brexit stance. They may be perfectly happy for you to use their postal address and to speak/write on their behalf. This is a matter for readers and all we can say is the more MPs receiving contact on this subject the better.

The key thing is that you should be able to provide an address in the constituency when contacting an MP.

Finding contact details

Address for all MPs: [MP's name], House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.

Post is redirected when the House is not sitting.

Phone number for all MPs: 020 7219 3000. Just ask for your MP by name.

House of Commons directory of MPs – just type in your postcode to find your MP or use the alphabetical list. Here is an example entry

Example Contact Card

© Parliament

Emailing

As we have said in articles above, emailing an MP is fine but please remember that it's easy to email, so many people do that. Letters take more time and effort but they have more impact.

It's worth noting that our Editor has the private email addresses of many politicians, as well as their mobile numbers, but these were given in confidence and we can't provide these under any circumstances. The reason for them giving their private email addresses is precisely because MPs receive so many emails each day on their parliamentary email accounts.

You can also use a free "write to your MP" service but be aware that this sends an email not a letter. The advantage is that they track whether MPs respond or not.

Constituency Offices

These are listed for some MPs by using the House of Commons Directory, above. If it's not there it will be in the phone book under ‘Members of Parliament', or you can call the MP's office in the Commons to get the address.

In addition, the Labour Party has a tool on its site for finding your MP. Click on the box when the MP's details come up and the next page generally contain the constituency contact details. Labour also has a list of regional offices – details below.

MP's Surgeries

These are organised at local level. Contact the constituency office who will give you details. You don't have to give a reason, just that you want to see your MP on a personal matter. Please be nice to the person giving the information – they may want to reassure themselves that you are not a security threat, which is understandable.

If when you see your MP he or she immediately tries to tell you that Brexit is a national not a constituency matter, stress that you only need a few minutes and that for you it's a constituency matter because the MP's job is at stake.

Political Party HQ's

You may wish to contact an MP's party at national or regional level. We don't see why national, regional or local Chairmen and activists shouldn't be aware of the strength of feeling in the country.

Conservative Campaign Headquarters 4 Matthew Parker Street, London SW1H 9HQ 020 7222 9000
Labour Party Campaign Headquarters The Labour Party Labour Central, Kings Manor, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6PA 345 092 2299 0345 092 2299
Labour's London address: Southside, 105 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QT
Scottish Labour Party 290 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4RE
Welsh Labour 1 Cathedral Road, Cardiff CF11 9HA

Labour Party Regional Offices

UKIP

We have not given any detailed information for UKIP because their stance is firmly pro-Brexit anyway and time is better spent on anti-Brexit people. You may of course wish to blind copy anything you do to Gerard Batten or your local party organisers, for information purposes. We hope to receive an endorsement from the Party for this initiative and will update you accordingly.

Majorities – How vulnerable is your MP?

If you want to work smart – and our readers are nothing if not smart - Brexit Facts4EU.Org has conducted its own analysis of the most vulnerable MPs.

In the 2017 general election there were:-

Brexit Facts4eu.Org - Analysis of vulnerable MPs

  • 80 seats
  • 80 seats with a majority of less than 2,000
  • 120 seats with a majority of less than 3,000
  • 180 seats with a majority of less than 5,000
  • 293 seats with a majority of less than 10,000

This means a large number of MPs are vulnerable. Remember, an MP with a majority of 2,000 votes only has to see 1,001 switch to the second place candidate and they would lose their seat. (In reality because these seats have majorities under 2,000 then it takes less than 1,000 voters to switch, in order for 80 MPs to lose their jobs, all other things being equal.)

And if there is a big backlash against MPs who refuse to accept the result of the Referendum, large swings are a very real possibility, threatening the jobs of a couple of hundred MPs or more.

Here are the top 80 most vulnerable seats, with majorities of less than 2,000. These are broken into the top 40 and the 41-80 most marginal.

40 Most Marginal Seats

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2018

Posting Messages on Political Websites

You may also wish to consider posting messages on any political websites you use. Here are some examples: ConservativeHome, The Conservative Woman, The Spectator, Labour List, The New Statesman, UKIP Daily.

Next – How To Target The Media

In the next section we provide contact information for the broadcast media including the BBC, who have such a major impact on the public when it comes to Brexit.

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