On 9th July, the process of swearing in hundreds of new MPs began.
For those new MPs, the first few weeks will be a whirlwind of information, learning on the job and understanding the protocols of an institution more than 900 years old.
“You queue up in the canteen and start talking to anyone who makes eye contact, to tell them you are new and with the hope they may share some pearls of wisdom,” wrote Feryal Clark (Enfield North) on her experiences as a new MP in 2019.
“It is like your first day at school or university.”
Many of the new cohort will be familiar with at least some aspects of their new job, having worked in and around politics as SPADs or in public affairs, but others will be arriving from professional backgrounds including medicine or science & technology and will have little knowledge of the way things work.
Their first few weeks will comprise inductions, setting up their offices, getting to grips with casework, and understanding how not to fall foul of the many traps that can be set for persons entering high profile politics.
Those from outside of London and the south-east will be trying to find somewhere to live while parliament is sitting.
During this time, they will also be inundated with approaches from organisations hoping to get on their radar and shunt their issue up the political agenda.
And this is where the type of approach you take to your outreach will determine whether you stand out or get lost in the aether.
Stand out from the crowd with geo-advocacy
Geo-advocacy is a form of lobbying that involves presenting a case for a policy or issue at a geographical level that will have maximum impact with a stakeholder.
For an MP, this might involve highlighting the number of people with a specific health condition, or the number of people employed by a company or industry, in their constituency.
While UK-wide statistics can involve some large and impressive numbers, they can fail to solve the ‘why does it matter to me?’ conundrum.
Geo-advocacy can bridge the ‘so-what?’ gap by localising narratives.
A localised narrative takes a broader narrative – the number of people living with a health condition in the UK, or the number of people a company employs in the UK – and presents it through a local prism.
The impact of spatial distance
It is human nature to pay more attention to something when the effects or impact feels physically closer.
We see this through Nimby-ism or with war and conflict. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine wasn’t just physically closer to the UK than other global conflicts, it had a direct impact on people through the resultant energy crisis and skyrocketing bills.
As the Coronavirus pandemic developed at the beginning of 2020, a study showed how spatial distance influenced public attention and sentiment towards Covid.
“As the disease came closer, more tweets were posted and the average sentiment became more negative,” according to Atilla and Zwaan (2024).
“These observations suggest that physical proximity to a threat influences how much attention people pay to the threat and how they respond to it emotionally.”
Just because they’ve been elected to a national parliament doesn’t mean MPs are immune to these natural human responses and feelings.
Indeed there is likely to be strong attachment to place among the new cohort.
MPs and the local connection
Having a local connection to a constituency is both an important selection criterion and seen as important by voters; a fact that prompted Surrey Heath Conservative candidate Ed McGuiness to rent an Airbnb to show he was now a ‘resident’ of the constituency.
An analysis by Polimapper of over 350 prime candidates (successors to existing MPs or challengers in key target seats) ahead of the election, showed four in five had a connection with their constituency.
67% were local to the area at the time of selection, with 13% having lived there previously.
48% of prime candidates were local councillors prior to the election, providing them with a real connection to their constituents.
“I still think of them as residents, which is a very local councillor mindset,” wrote Feryal Clark, “ but for me that is one of the biggest takeaways from having served as a councillor before becoming an MP.
“You remember the individual residents you worked with and helped across the years, and it keeps your mind focused on the outcomes of the decisions you are being asked to make.”
The role of data
One of the challenges of presenting a localised narrative, is how to do it at scale. Undertaking research prior to each meeting or communication with an MP, can be a time consuming and ultimately inefficient way of working.
This is why data is such an important component of geo-advocacy.
Data is the enabler for producing a localised narrative in every constituency across the country in a time efficient manner.
Depending on the policy area you’re working in, the availability of data can vary widely. In some, such as healthcare, it’s plentiful.
In many cases the government, through its departments or the Office for National Statistics or itself can be the best source of data, but there are many avenues to explore.
Public data is much more likely to be made available at geographies where local decisions are made, such as local authority or Integrated Care Board.
But in most cases it can be overlaid to parliamentary constituencies to provide the narrative you need. We cover this in more detail in our guide ‘Getting started with geo-advocacy’.
Summary
MPs, especially new MPs, are in for a busy few months ahead. To get their attention you’ll need to stand out from the crowd.
Like the rest of us, MPs are impacted by spatial distance. You can get around this by localising your narratives.
Data is the key to localising your narratives at scale, and a crucial component of any geo-advocacy strategy.