Let’s get parliamentary candidates supporting onshore wind! Here’s some ideas...
With an election round the corner, and candidates hungry for votes, we need to make noise about wind - and we need that to be local. If candidates want to be the one to represent your views in Parliament, they should support you in pushing to get onshore wind going in the UK.
With your help, we got 157 MPs across the country to stand up for onshore wind. With their constituents’ support, they stood up to the government to push for change. We know what an impact constituency pressure can have. So now that candidates have been announced, it’s time to go local again.
Now is a key time. Your candidates will be influenced by what their constituents want. It’s time to get them to commit to supporting onshore wind if they get elected. Here are some ideas for how we get there:
+ Talk to your candidates
Send them a message
Emailing your candidates is a quick and easy way to let them know that you want to see them stand up for onshore wind. If they’re elected, they’ll need to represent the views of their constituents in parliament.
We’ve drafted a template email you can send the candidates standing in your constituency. To find the names and contact details for your local candidates, enter your postcode into this website.
Find your local hustings
A hustings is an event where local candidates are brought together to talk answer questions from voters. It’s an opportunity to question your future MP about their views on any issue that concerns you. Will you find your local hustings and ask your candidates whether they’ll push to remove the blocks on onshore wind?
There’s a list of local hustings here, and they should also be listed online or in local newspapers. Your local parties should be able to tell you what’s been arranged too. Once you’ve found one, why not spread the word and get more wind-supporting neighbours to join you? If you want to link up with wind supporters in your area, message alethea@wearepossible.org and she’ll see what she can do.
Here’s a couple of suggested questions to get you started:
“I’m a voter who is concerned about climate change. If you’re elected to be my MP, will you commit to removing the blocks on onshore wind so that our cheapest new energy source can contribute to cutting UK carbon emissions as fast as possible?"
“Did you know that onshore wind is the cheapest source of new electricity generation - and that three quaters of voters from all parties support of it? If you’re elected, what will you do to remove the planning and financial blocks on onshore wind and allow communities to say yes to new wind projects?”
+ Spread the word
Everyone’s knocking on doors - so why not join them? Tell your neighbours about onshore wind - lots of people still don’t know that it’s being blocked by the government, or how popular and cheap it is.
Share on social media
Share a video - or two:
Here’s one we created a while back (when we were 10:10) which is always a winner.
AND - this one by a French wind energy company will never get old
+ Get crafty
They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, well how about a giant paper mache wind turbine? Are you into dancing? Or painting? Or origami? How many ways can we celebrate wind? Whatever you’re into, we’d love to see some loud and proud turbine love in the run up to elections.
We’ve got a tips for making a wind turbine christmas tree topper, but if you want more ideas or inspiration, get in touch with Ali - she’s full of them.
Don’t forget to send us pics! We’ll share them on our social media channels.
+ Write to your local paper
Writing to your local paper about an issue is a great way to put it on the local agenda. Around election time candidates wanting your vote will be particularly sensitive to issues they think local people care about.
A great place to start when writing something would be to find out what proportion of people in your constituency support onshore wind using the tool embedded on this page (scroll down a bit).
If you’d like to try to get support for onshore wind into your local paper, get in touch! Our press team will be happy to provide advice and support.