iang
Lib Dem
Posts: 1,761
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Post by iang on Sept 20, 2024 13:51:37 GMT
To be fair, Reform is an effective libertarian party - you don't vote for Reform if you want an MP to solve your problems for you. Anderson pointed out that Farage is yet to set up shop vis-a-vis constituency surgeries. If there's a a risk of a Martin Horwood or Stephen Timms or David Amess type attack, then I would say, why bother putting your staff at risk. MPs are also employers and not one man bands. I don't even canvass on my own - I'm sure I'd want to be 100% certain that I and my staff are safe if I was doing surgeries. Even as Chancellor, I'm seriously considering a bullet proof chancellor mobile so I don't get shot at a la John Paul II or Ronald Reagan. You don't mean Martin Horwood - you are thinking of his predecessor in Cheltenham, Nigel Jones. It was Nigel Jones who was attacked at a surgery (and his assistant, Cllr Andrew Pennington killed). And this presumably wouldn't have been different if it had not been a "walk-in" surgery, as the assailant was somebody Nigel Jones had been dealing with for some time
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iang
Lib Dem
Posts: 1,761
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Post by iang on Sept 20, 2024 13:54:56 GMT
On the subject of casework, as a parliamentary candidate, I get inundated in elections with identical emails asking my views / likelihood to support on the subject of X. And just a handful of what I would call "genuine casework" type emails. But I would presume that is specific to elections - once elections are passed, I would expect that the balance is reversed and most enquiries are casework issues and only a few will be "Please support X". Maybe one of our former Parliamentarians could say whether this is the case - matureleft or robert1 ?
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Post by timrollpickering on Sept 20, 2024 14:02:52 GMT
I just wish that anybody who justifies the actions of any councillor/MP/MEP by saying that people knew what they were voting for would extend the same license to all other parties. There is a massive difference with a party whose entire raison d'etre is to tear down the system (or at least our part in it) not make it work and individual elected representatives in conventional parties. And they represented their electorate with the same disdain towards the whole EU system that their electorate held. One of the side effects of PR is that members wind up formally only representing those that voted for them (and those who don't get a member elected don't get any representation) whereas under single member systems the member is there to serve the whole constituency. They managed to get a good number of YouTube hits but beyond that did anyone seriously think a) there would be a majority of MEPs voting to expel the UK (even if it was pitched as "this is the only way to get Farage out of here") and b) that even if such a vote did happen it would make a blinding bit of difference to our membership? The Lib Dems are not known for being terribly democratic when it comes to all things EU. My recollection (and this may go back to the previous incarnation of this forum; the search function isn't always great) is that their MEPs emphasised their work in enhancing various directives whereas other mainstream MEPs I heard from emphasised working to weaken them to better serve the national interest. I try to remember when the Lib Dems were actually standing for the EU Parliament on an explicit manifesto of working for Brussels's interests not the UK's. In 2014 they ran on supporting membership and got one MEP, in 2019 they ran on stopping Brexit through a neverendum. Before that my distant memory of generic Lib Dem positions.
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Post by LDCaerdydd on Sept 20, 2024 14:08:56 GMT
On the subject of casework, as a parliamentary candidate, I get inundated in elections with identical emails asking my views / likelihood to support on the subject of X. And just a handful of what I would call "genuine casework" type emails. But I would presume that is specific to elections - once elections are passed, I would expect that the balance is reversed and most enquiries are casework issues and only a few will be "Please support X". Maybe one of our former Parliamentarians could say whether this is the case - matureleft or robert1 ? MPs will still be inundated when a large charity runs a campaign or when some idiot creates a chnage.org petition.
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Sept 20, 2024 15:03:39 GMT
Change.org petitions and similar aren't casework, the most effort they require is drafting a standard response and sending it to anybody who signs the petition.
Actual casework is, as the name indicates, specific to the case and hence bespoke.
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Post by matureleft on Sept 20, 2024 15:12:07 GMT
On the subject of casework, as a parliamentary candidate, I get inundated in elections with identical emails asking my views / likelihood to support on the subject of X. And just a handful of what I would call "genuine casework" type emails. But I would presume that is specific to elections - once elections are passed, I would expect that the balance is reversed and most enquiries are casework issues and only a few will be "Please support X". Maybe one of our former Parliamentarians could say whether this is the case - matureleft or robert1 ? Bear in mind my experience ended in 2010. Email traffic was fairly heavy then but will have multiplied. And many charities or lobbying groups had used postcards before that. Constituents didn’t have to take too much trouble to send a card or a standard email. The volume of campaign mail was pretty large (see below) then but could mostly be routinised and most MPs tended to have standard answers. My approach was a little different. I would often reply giving my answer but then asking why they were interested and whether they had some personal experience to bring to bear. Normally this was ignored but it sometimes led to useful correspondence that taught me something. I seem to recall that in a typical year I’d have around 2500 contacts on a wide variety of subjects. Casework would be the wrong word in a proportion - the person wanted to express a view on something or quote a newspaper to me. They didn’t want or need help. Genuine casework came in clumps. Initially the dreadful CSA was a heavy claim and successor arrangements were only a bit better. The appalling implementation of tax credits generated huge amounts of work. And, as a former mining area, coal damages claims (again abysmally managed) occupied a lot of time. Outside periods preceding elections when, as you say, campaign cards and emails were common, that correspondence perhaps amounted to 5-10 % of mail but that may be more now.
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Clacton
Sept 20, 2024 17:17:59 GMT
via mobile
Post by LDCaerdydd on Sept 20, 2024 17:17:59 GMT
Change.org petitions and similar aren't casework, the most effort they require is drafting a standard response and sending it to anybody who signs the petition. Actual casework is, as the name indicates, specific to the case and hence bespoke. I’m fully aware of what casework is. I was responding to a query about the amount of correspondence an MP is likely to receive now there isn’t a live election campaign on. Mass email campaigns will have slowed down since 4th July but will continue year round especially when contentious issues such as assisted dying etc come up.
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