How to Use Politicians to Get What You Want

Scott Colvin

• Publisher: Biteback Publishing
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781849540865
• eBook ISBN:
  9781849541565
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Advocacy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Ever since the 2009 expenses scandal erupted, public opinion towards politicians has hit rock bottom. Even with a new intake into Parliament, people are still asking what is the point of having an MP? However, people do not realise that politicians can be used to help them get what they want in a range of situations in everyday life. Scott Colvin has spent the past ten years working in national and local politics. During that time he has worked out how to use politicians to win a range of personal battles, both as a consumer and in his community. All the battles he has won - including getting the chief executive of a FTSE-25 company to personally intervene to send an engineer to his home, saving the last post office in his town, campaigning for his child's nursery to remain open and getting a wheel clamper to remove a clamp free of charge - he has done by using MPs and councillors either passively or actively to support his campaigns. He believes that everyone could do the same if only they knew how. This book is an informal 'how to' guide for consumers, pressure groups, residents groups, etc to demonstrate how and when to use your national and local politicians to assert your rights as both a consumer and a citizen. Politicians are often seen to have played the system for their own financial and personal gain - it is time for the people they represent to get the same chance.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Politicians
• The expenses saga
• What makes an MP tick?
• Are we too hard on them?
• The surprising power of an MP
• The ‘Penning’ effect
• Why MPs attack corporates
• How an MP’s office works
• How to contact your MP
• How NOT to contact your MP
• MEPs and councillors
• The new relationship
• Chapter 2: Corporates
• What’s the problem?
• Why consumers get frustrated
• The loss of faith in big business
• Why do companies lose touch?
• What makes a CEO tick?
• The fear of sudden events
• Consumer watchdogs
• The fear of politicians
• The role of regulators
• How to contact a CEO
• Chapter 3: Lobbying
• What is lobbying?
• A brief history of lobbying
• Professional lobbying
• Where next for lobbying?
• How to lobby
• Case study: The Gurkhas and Joanna Lumley
• David vs Goliath
• Chapter 4: Campaigning as an individual
• Don’t get mad, get even
• How to make a complaint
• The power of blogging
• Why do complaints fail?
• The minister for consumer affairs
• The pressure point
• Case study: The gas boiler
• Case study: The Gatwick Express
• Case study: The pizza
• Case study: The clamper
• Case study: The wine company
• Case study: The house builder
• Conclusion
• Chapter 5: Campaigning in your community
• What is your campaign?
• The general rules of community campaigns
• Construct a message grid
• Setting the right tone
• Top down and bottom up
• Understand your audiences
• Get out the vote
• Assess your own team
• Opportunities and threats
• Develop a campaign strategy
• Message themes
• Media plan
• Why ‘local’ matters
• Case study: Save our hospital
• Case study: The post office
• Case study: The mobile phone mast
• Conclusion
• Chapter 6: The nuts and bolts of the modern campaign
• Fundraising
• Global campaigns
• Facebook campaigns
• Twitter campaigns
• Doing radio
• Doing TV
• Public speaking
• Local newspapers
• Localism
• Conclusion
• Lean into it
• The last word...
• Resources
• Politicians
• Corporates
• Lobbying
• Social networks
• Polling websites
• General
• Author biography