There are still large numbers of Labour MPs who haven’t even responded to their constitutents, after several weeks, on the subject of driven grouse shooting. This is pretty shocking since Labour has has a perfectly respectable standard response that has been sent out by other MPs since at least 24 August. That’s over six weeks when many Labour MPs haven’t been able to put a letter into the post or an email into the ether. Pretty poor show – particularly because it is quite a good response. It’s being wasted, and its impact much reduced, by its non-appearance.
At least the Tories have been quite good at writing back to their constituents telling them that they (the constituents) don’t know what they are talking about (many of them) quite quickly (many of them). Having said that, Andrew Rosindell, I gather still holds the record for not responding to his constituents on this matter.
I’m disappointed with the slowness of Labour MPs.
I’m particularly disappointed with this responseof Stella Creasy MP to a constituent on Twitter:
Constituent: Hey @stellacreasy I emailed you 2.5 weeks ago & haven’t had a reply. What’s the normal response time for replying to constituents?
SC: Do you mean the e-petition you sent me?
Constituent: That’s the one
SC: With mass petitions I collate all the same emails and then reply as one so depends on how many others email
Constituent: Ah, ok. Any idea on an ETA for this one?
SC: Sorry – fwiw I support most animal welfare campaigns but online petitions lowest on my priority list for action
Disappointing because this e-petition is not just an animal welfare one, it is much broader. And disappointing because this is an e-petition on the parliament website, which has triggered a parliamentary debate – so an MP puts that at the bottom of the list does she? Hardly an advert for parliamentary democracy is it? We have set up this process but if you use it we’ll give it a low priority. Maybe we should throw bricks instead of using the peaceful and ancient process of petitioning those in power?
Come on Stella! You’re not seen as stellar by your constituent. Are you just going to send out this standard response anyway? If so, please get on with it.
Speaking as a Labour Party member I find reasons to become more disenchanted with Labour just about every day…
And in fairness, for I like to think I often approach fairness, my own Conservative MP is really very quick at responding (although to be completely fair, that might be because he knows about this blog).
I wonder whether the same MPs are always the ones who don’t respond or who are slow in responding? There should be an index of MP tardiness that would be publicly available to constituents. MPs are keen on league tables for hospitals and schools – what about for MPs’ unresponsiveness ? Maybe a project for after we have banned driven grouse shooting?
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Maybe we should throw bricks instead of using the peaceful and ancient process of petitioning those in power?
The more bad news I hear about wildlife and the more meaningless platitudes I hear from increasingly ineffective NGO’s, the more tempting this becomes. Sigh!
Mark
There is actually a website that already does just this – https://www.theyworkforyou.com/.
And they have just linked to https://www.writetothem.com/stats/2015/mps which publishes the very statistics you seek! They provide a methodology and numbers, though I haven’t read it.
Andrew Rosindell comes in at 509th (out of 641); Stella Creasy 505th.
Richard
Richard – I thought there might be. I’ll have a look. Thanks
Richard Wilson — thanks for this: shows my MP 301st in ranking, so I’ve less cause for whinging than many, but is there any way to escalate my dissatisfaction with being ignored? I mean more progressively than waiting 3.5 years and not voting for her? And would there be a ‘better’ choice? Ah, but MPs are people and have their own personalities priorities, and as Nimby says that’s the current state of our democracy: once they’re elected we have to accept they way the choose to represent us. I would accept if she wrote to me to say she was actively choosing not to take any further action on my behalf, even if I didn’t like it; it’s the tumbleweed treatment I detest; but again I suppose that tactic is most successful with most people so that’s why she does it. Still it’s good that we have these tools and information.
One of the interesting things about the petition is the way your blog has shone a light on the way our democracy works, which will be useful beyond this debate as well. Maybe if I was an A level politics student now rather than 25 years ago Standing Up For Nature would be a set text!
Nothing from Alistair Burt yet…
It would be interesting to compare and contrast the constituency workload of a typical inner city Labour MP and a typical leafy shire Tory MP.
I suspect there would be quite a difference in both quantity and quality.
And in that difference there might be a clue as to why Labour MPs are perhaps less responsive on this issue than you might like.
de – yes, I agree, I had thought of that. All sorts of differences are possible.
I just looked and my constituency of Corby has 115,000 constituents spread over a larger area than Walthamstow’s 116,000 constituents.
Didn’t they all get a 10-11% pay rise, so the violin playing is getting a bit tiresome I’m afraid.
Having said that, yes there are a handful perhaps who do work hard and doubtless entered politics for the right reason.
But effectively a two horse race every five years is not a good democracy?
You can pay them as much as you like, but if their workload is impossible it’s still impossible!
Is MPs responsiveness declining since the cuts? Fewer civil servants to draft ministerial replies for instance?
Sadly, I feel tha Labour Party are more preoccupied with in-house fighting than taking up issues raised by their constituents. On a more hopeful note, I have managed to get the issue of driven grouse shooting on the agenda of the National Trust AGM, which will be available to watch on-line on 22nd October.
Jackie – have you really? Well done you!
Yes, Mark. My husband and I are members and we asked them to raise it at their AGM. They have said they will raise it as part of the ‘members questions’ bit and sent us a link so we can watch it on the day. I hope they will stand by their word….?