Approaching groups of MPs
Approaching groups of MPs
Introduction
If you are interested in reaching policy-makers with your ideas, one of the easiest ways is to share them with an All-Party Parliamentary Group, or APPG. Here are some suggestions for how you can do this.
What is an APPG?
APPGs are informal groups of MPs within Parliament, each looking at a particular issue or country. They draw MPs from across all parties and often have a wider membership of organisations involved in their issue: reaching their wider membership can be very useful. They organise talks and discussions at Westminster, publish newsletters or reports, and can feed into wider levels of policy-making such as Select Committees, Whitehall departments or Ministerial thinking. They are always looking out for new ideas and experts. So they are a very good entry point to UK national policy.
A list of current APPGs is published on the Parliamentary website every six weeks.
Why engage with them?
Here are two examples of how Churchill Fellows have benefited from APPG contact.
Eva Okwonga (CF 2016) says:
“I had been avidly following the work of the APPG for Arts Health and Well-Being. At the welcoming reception for 2016 Fellows, we were encouraged to be bold in contacting organisations to share our research. This gave me the confidence to approach the APPG via contacts on their website. The APPG Secretary warmly invited me to contribute to the work of their inquiry. This involved attending a series of meetings and a conference. The inquiry has now published Creative Health, an excellent report presented to Parliament in 2017.
“Being involved with this APPG has been very interesting and extremely fulfilling. I have met some amazing people and learned even more about my field of interest (arts and health). Most importantly, I have been able to add my findings to a movement which I believe will give the healing arts more prominence in this country and around the world.”
Lindsay Graham (CF 2014) says:
“Finding an APPG that is relevant to your chosen topic is a great way to raise awareness of your research and disseminate your findings. I was fortunate to connect with two, both of which provided me with access to parliamentarians, ministers and UK wide networks in the policy area I was aiming to influence. They helped with valuable introductions, shared my report and helped champion the changes I sought. Three years later I still work with them both. The connections I have made, and working with those APPGs, has resulted in the first reading of a parliamentary Bill on tackling child hunger in the school holidays that I and others hope will improve the lives of many children living in poverty in the UK.”
How to approach APPGs
Write a short letter or email to the Chair of the relevant APPG (their email addresses are in the Parliamentary list of APPGs):
- Briefly introduce yourself (Churchill Fellow, job, location) and your findings.
- Explain how the findings are relevant to the APPG.
- Offer to share your findings with them (see below).
- Include a link to your Report or profile on our website.
How you share with them might take several forms:
- You could ask them to circulate to their members a one-page summary of your findings (you’ll have to draft this for them).
- Or you could offer to present your findings to one of their meetings.
- You could also offer to contribute to work that the APPG may undertake, relevant to your own research, such as an inquiry or report they are doing. This can be a useful way to gain contacts and access to a wider network, though it may be time consuming.
If you are writing a one-pager on your findings, keep it focussed and clearly highlight key points. Parliamentarians like short, simple briefings that they can read with ease. Avoid party-political points, as an APPG has to be cross-party.
If you are asked to present to them, or appear on a discussion panel, keep your presentation short and to the point, focus on your key findings and avoid personal anecdotes. Do take in copies of your one-pager for people to take away and circulate to colleagues.
Most of this contact work can be done after your Fellowship research, when you have solid findings to offer. But you could also make contact beforehand, if you think this might yield useful contacts or ideas for your research.
Further advice
Contact our Research and Engagement Managers on engagement@churchillfellowship.org.
What is an APPG?
APPGs are informal groups of MPs within Parliament, each looking at a particular issue or country. They draw MPs from across all parties and often have a wider membership of organisations involved in their issue: reaching their wider membership can be very useful. They organise talks and discussions at Westminster, publish newsletters or reports, and can feed into wider levels of policy-making such as Select Committees, Whitehall departments or Ministerial thinking. They are always looking out for new ideas and experts. So they are a very good entry point to UK national policy.
A list of current APPGs is published on the Parliamentary website every six weeks.
Why engage with them?
Here are two examples of how Churchill Fellows have benefited from APPG contact.
Eva Okwonga (CF 2016) says:
“I had been avidly following the work of the APPG for Arts Health and Well-Being. At the welcoming reception for 2016 Fellows, we were encouraged to be bold in contacting organisations to share our research. This gave me the confidence to approach the APPG via contacts on their website. The APPG Secretary warmly invited me to contribute to the work of their inquiry. This involved attending a series of meetings and a conference. The inquiry has now published Creative Health, an excellent report presented to Parliament in 2017.
“Being involved with this APPG has been very interesting and extremely fulfilling. I have met some amazing people and learned even more about my field of interest (arts and health). Most importantly, I have been able to add my findings to a movement which I believe will give the healing arts more prominence in this country and around the world.”
Lindsay Graham (CF 2014) says:
“Finding an APPG that is relevant to your chosen topic is a great way to raise awareness of your research and disseminate your findings. I was fortunate to connect with two, both of which provided me with access to parliamentarians, ministers and UK wide networks in the policy area I was aiming to influence. They helped with valuable introductions, shared my report and helped champion the changes I sought. Three years later I still work with them both. The connections I have made, and working with those APPGs, has resulted in the first reading of a parliamentary Bill on tackling child hunger in the school holidays that I and others hope will improve the lives of many children living in poverty in the UK.”
How to approach APPGs
Write a short letter or email to the Chair of the relevant APPG (their email addresses are in the Parliamentary list of APPGs):
- Briefly introduce yourself (Churchill Fellow, job, location) and your findings.
- Explain how the findings are relevant to the APPG.
- Offer to share your findings with them (see below).
- Include a link to your Report or profile on our website.
How you share with them might take several forms:
- You could ask them to circulate to their members a one-page summary of your findings (you’ll have to draft this for them).
- Or you could offer to present your findings to one of their meetings.
- You could also offer to contribute to work that the APPG may undertake, relevant to your own research, such as an inquiry or report they are doing. This can be a useful way to gain contacts and access to a wider network, though it may be time consuming.
If you are writing a one-pager on your findings, keep it focussed and clearly highlight key points. Parliamentarians like short, simple briefings that they can read with ease. Avoid party-political points, as an APPG has to be cross-party.
If you are asked to present to them, or appear on a discussion panel, keep your presentation short and to the point, focus on your key findings and avoid personal anecdotes. Do take in copies of your one-pager for people to take away and circulate to colleagues.
Most of this contact work can be done after your Fellowship research, when you have solid findings to offer. But you could also make contact beforehand, if you think this might yield useful contacts or ideas for your research.
Further advice
Contact our Research and Engagement Managers on engagement@churchillfellowship.org.