It's all very well setting up a local campaign but what's the point if you don't know what your neighbours think? Many citizen’s campaigns rush ahead with an urgent ask without testing what other voters think. It is by definition hard to get the honest opinions of groups of different ages, ethnicities and income levels. 

Why should focus groups be the preserve of the political parties and big players instead of informing citizens in their local work?

So we are thrilled to be working with George Marshall, author of Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired To Ignore Climate Change and co-founder of Climate Outreach. He is supporting us by helping us initiate some citizen-led focus groups. The method has been tested across the world in Alberta, Ireland, UK,  Iceland and many more. 

The groups will be offered to constituencies to find out and test key messages and part of the campaign affects the diverse groups ages and income levels found in every constituency. 

Election planning

How can your autonomous local MP Watch group start planning to keep a high profile during the election campaign. We’ll give you lots of advice and tips from experienced campaigners including

• Spokesperson training

• Running or attending a hustings

• How to keep a high profile on a budget

• What makes your campaign shine? .