The Beginner’s Guide: What is a researcher?

It may sound like a stupid question, but few campaigners know the value of this member of staff – or even that they exist…

A researcher, as the name implies, is the person responsible for researching for an MP.
What the name doesn’t imply, however, is the sheer gravitas of this position within an MPs Westminster office. The researcher is responsible for keeping an MPs diary, managing any other office staff, co-ordinating between the Westminster office and the consistency, the relationships between MP and whip’s office… I could go on.

In short, researchers are serious business. Don’t treat them as the gateway to an MP, or someone getting in your way – treat them as you would the MP.

Where MPs can be naïve and have romantic notions about the purity of democracy, the researcher sees on a daily basis the nasty side of politics – and that’s not a hindrance to your campaign. You can use this to your advantage if you get to know that particular researcher and their views.

I cannot express quite how important it is to be on the researcher’s good side. If you piss them off by treating them as a desk jockey, or fail to show that you know what you’re talking about, anything you write to the MP about will end up in the bin. Not out of malice, but these people really don’t have time to be wasting on people that don’t 1) understand how the system works 2) know what they’re talking about.
On the flip-side, if you make a researcher’s job easier, and present your argument in an easy to read format with easy to check research and a compelling case – you can be guaranteed that you will get through to an MP.

Remember: your job is not to get past the researcher, you must get their approval too.

These people know more about what’s going on where and when in Westminster than you can imagine. If you have a researcher on your side, they can alert you to any interesting developments they come across in the course of their duties – developments which can put you above and beyond the reach of your ‘opposition’ and give you the edge.

I always start with a phone call. I introduce myself and my business, tell them what I want and why I want it. I offer to email further details (and actually do it) immediately.

If I want to meet their MP, I tell them how long I need (always keep it short) and give a tangible benefit from it (in the case of this blog, it’s generally publicity, transparency and helping the course of democracy. MPs love that stuff!)

If I’m writing anything non-partisan, I offer to give the researcher a copy of what I’m writing before I publish it. It’s polite, and they get to check their MP hasn’t said anything silly and misrepresented their (or their party leader’s) opinion.
If I’m writing anything in the interests of journalism, you can still offer to forward an original copy to the piece at the same time as you send it for publishing. This gives them a chance to realise if their MP has borked up and prepare for a press release/a difficult conversation with the whip’s office.

In a nutshell, treat the researcher as an over-worked childminder, with sympathy and with professionalism, and if your message is right, you might get an appreciative grunt. This is high praise indeed, and more likely to open doors for you than a ringing endorsement from the MP.

Like this post? Why not subscribe by email?

Your email: