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Meeting your MP

One of the best ways to get your message and ask across, is to meet with your MP in person. Virtual meetings have become increasingly popular since the pandemic, so this is an option as well. If you’ve written requesting a meeting and don’t get a reply, it’s a good idea to follow up with a phone call to their office. If your MP is a Minister for the Treasury or the Department for Education, chair or member of a select committee for education or public accounts please get in touch with us to help you support these critical MPs, as we may have an existing relationship. Once you have a meeting, preparation is key.

  • Find the latest policy asks from AoC in our regular communications or email public_affairs@aoc.co.uk and we can provide a briefing with the top policy asks
  • Think about who should be at the meeting. You might also want to ask a student, union representative, or local business stakeholder to join
  • Find out about your MP. Do they have a Ministerial position, are they a member of a committee which may be relevant, what are their areas of interest? A quick google search reveals a lot. The public affairs team can provide you a written briefing on the person and their personal interests to help, email public_affairs@aoc.co.uk to request
  • Plan what you want to say before the meeting and what outcome you’re hoping for
  • Gather your evidence on the issue and any other key information that back up your asks
  • Prepare an agenda in advance to make sure you cover everything you want to discuss
  • Have a clear ask for your MP.

Your MP can:

  • Write to the Minister who is responsible for the issue
  • Ask Parliamentary Questions to find out what’s going on with the issue
  • Table a motion, which is a statement that other MPs sign up to if they agree with it
  • Contact local agencies such as the local council to raise concerns on your behalf.
  • Don’t worry if you don’t know the answer to a question in the meeting. You can let them know you’ll look it up afterwards and follow up with them
  • Make notes during the meeting so there’s a record of what is agreed
  • Don’t worry if you don’t get the result you wanted from your meeting. You could always arrange to meet again another time to discuss in the issue in more detail. You could also consider a different tactic to help raise awareness – possibly something more public
  • Follow up with a letter or email thanking them for their time, reminding them of the key points you made and any agreed actions, and including any further reference material you agreed to provide
  • Ask them to join the All Party Parliamentary Group on Further Education & Lifelong Learning. AoC provides the secretariat to this informal group of parliamentarians which aims to promote and develop the interests of the further education, adult learning and skills sectors. We’re keen to grow the group so welcome all new MPs who want to join and get involved in campaigning with us in Parliament.

Click here to download our Road to General Election document.

Click here to download our Mind the Skills Gap template letter to MPs.