[andyjohnson0]

If you want to be taken seriously then keep it respectful. MPs regard themselves as representatives who use their own judgement, not delegates who have to do what their constituents tell them.

Do not rant. Outline your concerns clearly and directly, request that they take some form of action, and ask them to reply to you giving their views and what action they took. Remember that the MP will expect requests to be something actionable: ask them to consider writing to the Home Secretary and/or Prime Minister, speak if the matter comes up for debate, sign an early day motion, etc.

It's important to ask them to reply to you - and be prepared to follow-up if they don't. I've read that there is a lot of variation among MPs in how they deal with this kind of contact. My MP, a young-ish fairly enthusiastic Lib-Dem, is pretty good in this respect. More 'traditional' MPs may be not so good. Give them time, though. Despite the popular view, they are busy people.

Also remember that MPs as individuals have essentially no power in issues relating to day-to-day foreign relations and state security. Don't expect too much.

(Also, http://www.theyworkforyou.com/houserules)

[tehwalrus]

I emphasise, do not rant - my partner worked in an MPs office answering the mail, you don't want to fall into that category, which is still read and responded to, but which is almost never actioned/considered seriously/even read (by the MP themselves) in any way.

bad signs - all caps, more than a page long, written on a typewriter, hand written in illegible writing, etc.

[snogglethorpe]

Wait, why is "written on a typewriter" a bad sign?

There seems nothing particularly suspicious about handwriting either, though as a practical matter, legibility might be a problem...

[tehwalrus]

Well, there's a story behind this one.

I once wrote to David Milliband (when he was foreign secretary) on the urging of Amnesty International about the upcoming international vote on the banning of cluster bombs.

I wrote it on a 1920s typewriter, sealed it with wax etc, as befitting a letter to one of the holders of the four highest offices, and never got a reply (although they did succeed in banning the use of cluster munitions - good!)

Later, when my partner was working for an MP, I mentioned the letter to her - and she laughed at me and said it would have been "one of those letters," because of the presentation - and that that's why I wouldn't have got a reply etc. ( I also made the mistake of writing directly to Milliband himself, and not to my MP asking him to pass it on, which is another reason I may not have got a reply.)

I fear this story makes me out to be all three of hipster, lefty and (worst of all) impressed-by-authority, so I predict all the downvotes in this forum, but it explains my earlier comment, so it's probably worth it for completeness.

[snogglethorpe]

> she laughed at me and said it would have been "one of those letters," because of the presentation

But did she mention why they think that way? On the face of it, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense...

[tehwalrus]

Because eccentric presentation implies eccentric ideas, I think. They certainly do get a lot of letters from a lot of very vocal, very extreme people (who want homosexuality banned, hanging brought back, etc.)

[snogglethorpe]

My well that's kind of disturbing... not that they do such correlations (everybody does), but that typewriting/handwriting are considered "eccentric" to the point where they don't even read the letters.... [I mean... if they actually read them, surely a good argument and moderate tone would outweigh any initial judgement from slightly non-mainstream presentation?]

So if you want them to read your letter, you'd better write it in Microsoft word, using Arial, at medium size, without any formatting, and print it out on an inkjet printer on A4 paper?

[And sorry for the snarky/argumentative tone, it's obviously not your fault and you can't do anything about it, but it really is disturbing...]

[tehwalrus]

No, no...

They do read all the letters (at least, the researcher does.) It is only the first signal.

A handwritten letter isn't in itself an indicator - someone may simply have not had much time - if the writing is difficult to read, or if it's several pages long, then we're into danger territory.

Generally the MPs first see their mail alongside their researchers' draft responses to them. They do need to know what they wrote back to everyone so that if they meet the constituent at a Surgery they will know what they're talking about.

[Spooky23]

I have a friend who at one point had to wade through letters to a state legislator. The staff have to sludge through these letters every day, and they end up categorizing quickly. They correlate things like typewritten letters or weird things to the crazy stuff that they get.

Keep in mind, representatives are public people, and they get wacky things. Marriage proposals, insane ramblings, dog droppings, manifestos, abusive letters, frequent fliers who write multiple letters per day, etc.

[andyhmltn]

Thank you! In regards to them not replying: My local MP seems to take issues very seriously when written to. We had an issue a few months ago regarding my sister not being able to get to school and getting fined and she was in constant contact and helped solve the situation.

[arethuza]

Excellent advice - particularly about making a request that is actionable and asking for a reply.