WHAT IS LOBBY DAY?
Lobby Day is an integral part of our advocacy programme to promote local councils to parliamentarians.
It takes place annually and involves representatives of county associations and the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) meeting with Members of Parliament (MPs) and peers (Lords).
County associations and local (parish and town) councils play a vital role in helping NALC maintain and increase the sector's influence with government, civil servants and parliamentarians. Talking to MPs about the great things local councils are doing is particularly valuable in getting them to support the changes we are calling for on your behalf.
Lobby Day provides a fantastic opportunity to do just that, building on the foundations laid in previous years to develop and strengthen relations with MPs and peers.
WHEN IS LOBBY DAY TAKING PLACE?
This year's Lobby Day takes place on 23 March 2022 and we want this year to be even bigger and better! You can arrange meetings with your MPs either remotely or in-person (subject to government guidance).
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Here's how you can help us and get involved:
County associations: Contact your MPs requesting a virtual meeting with them on Lobby Day. This will either be by remote video conference call or physically in parliament if the MP and your county association can do this. We have produced an example letter, email template and suggested phone script, located below.
Local councils: Contact your MP requesting an appointment online in the days and weeks before or after Lobby Day or physically in parliament as a fallback. We have produced an example letter, email template and suggested phone script, located below. If you would like to support your local county association on Lobby Day itself, get in touch with them to discuss this further.
BACKGROUND
The first Lobby Day was held in June 2015 and saw NALC and county associations meet with many MPs, including government ministers. Also, Parliamentary Outreach delivered a workshop on how parliament works and many county associations met with MPs in their constituencies in the days and weeks following Lobby Day.
Since then, Lobby Day has grown, increasing engagement with parliamentarians every year. On Lobby Day 2019, NALC engaged with over 100 MPs, including ministers, shadow ministers and the deputy speaker of the House of Commons. NALC also invited a series of guest speakers on health and wellbeing, improvement and development, and tips on successfully engaging with parliament.
RESOURCES
Email template for county associations
Phone script for county associations
Example letter from county association
Email template for local councils
Phone scripts for local councils
COVID-secure measures for visiting parliament
CONTACT
For more information on Lobby Day, contact NALC at or on 020 7637 1865.