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Making your voice heard

As a SASW/BASW member, you are social work's greatest strength. SASW campaigns hard for our policy positions, and we have excellent working relationships with MSPs across the political spectrum. But, for politicians, nothing quite compares to hearing directly from your own constituent, or prospective constituent. That's why we have created the toolkit below to support you in raising our campaign asks, and maybe some of your own, with your local politicians and candidates at the election. 

We have given links, at the end of this page, which will take you to our work on terms and conditions: One Deal for Social Work and our Manifesto: A secure future for Scottish social work. We have also included blogs and other recent position statements, which will give you the tools you need to raise issues affecting the social work profession with MSPs and candidates. 

Quick guide to contacting MSPs and candidates

⭐ Why a local politician may be more engaged with a constituent

  • MSPs are elected to help the people who live in their area.
  • When a local person contacts them, it is part of their job to respond.
  • MSPs receive many emails from national organisations, so they cannot engage with all of them.
  • A message from a local resident carries more weight because that person votes in their area.
  • MSPs must prioritise local people first, even though they still value hearing from organisations.

⭐ What is the difference between an MSP and a candidate?

MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament)

  • Already elected.
  • Works in the Scottish Parliament.
  • Can help with local issues, casework, and national policy.
  • Has an official MSP email address and office.
  • Is obliged to respond to any enquiry from a constituent. (MSPs can refuse to take a matter up if for, example, they disagree with it politically, but they must explain that.)

Candidate

  • Not elected yet.
  • Standing for election and asking people to vote for them.
  • Does not have the same duties or responsibilities as an MSP.
  • Uses party or campaign contact details, not parliamentary ones.

⭐ What is the pre‑election period?

Before an election, there is a special time called the pre‑election period. This will begin for the Scottish elections this year on 26 March 2026.

During this time:

  • MSPs must be very careful about what they say or do.
  • They cannot use their MSP email address or office to talk about election campaigning.
  • They cannot answer political or campaign related questions through their MSP address.
  • They may direct people to their party or campaign email instead.

This rule exists to make elections fair.

⭐ How to contact MSPs and candidates about political issues during the pre‑election period

During the pre‑election period, MSPs cannot respond to political campaign issues using their MSP office. Here are the best ways to contact them:

  • Use their campaign or party email address. Many MSPs and candidates share these on their websites or social media pages.
  • Check their party website. Parties often list contact details for candidates and campaign teams.
  • Use websites that help you find candidates, such as: whocanivotefor.co.uk This site shows who is standing in your area and how to contact them.
  • Look for campaign social media accounts. Candidates often post updates and contact details there.

These routes allow you to raise political issues and have candidates respond to you without breaking preelection rules.

⭐ How to find out which MSPs represent you

When it is not the pre‑election period, you can easily find out who represents you.

  • Every person in Scotland has 8 MSPs. This is because Scotland uses a voting system called the D’Hondt system, which is a form of proportional representation.
  • The D’Hondt system means you have:
    • 1 constituency MSP (elected by local votes)
    • 7 regional MSPs (elected from a party list for your wider region)
  • These 7 regional MSPs are sometimes called list MSPs. They help make sure the Scottish Parliament is more proportional, meaning the number of seats better reflects how people voted across Scotland.
  • Because of this system, you are represented by 8 MSPs in total, not just one.
  • You can find all 8 of your MSPs by entering your postcode at: writetothem.com
  • This website will show you:
    • Your constituency MSP
    • Your 7 regional (list) MSPs
    • How to contact each of them (and rules about contacting all of them at once). In simple terms, you can email them all, but only one should be asked to take up a constituency case work issue at a time. Asking for a policy position or a personal view of all at once is normally considered reasonable.

This is an easy way to know who speaks for your area in the Scottish Parliament. The Parliament itself does have an MSP finder, but it is not as easy to use, in our opinion. 

Remember that not all currently sitting MSPs are standing again, so some will not be going into election overdrive to get your vote, but all will, or should respond, to enquiries while they are still MSPs.

Some regional MSPs may also suggest you email another MSP in their Party. This normally only happens if there is more than one for a Party in a region. They have no right to refuse to represent you, but this is often done to split up large regions, unofficially. In practical terms, the MSPs they ask you to email will be better placed and more willing to assist. So, it is often best to go with the flow. Unless you are determined to raise it with the initial contact in which case it can help if you explain why you particularly think they are the best person to take an issue forward.

⭐ Respect is key, even when disagreeing

Not all elected representatives will share your views; some may hold positions you find difficult to accept, or that go completely contrary to your personal beliefs. We don't always have to agree on everything. Maintaining a respectful tone and conversation will not only make someone much more willing to hear your point of view, but it is also essential to a civilised democratic society. MSPs and candidates, or their staff or election teams, do not need to respond to communication which is abusive or threatening. Always treat others as you would want to be treated, even when discussing the most sensitive and difficult topics. 

Below are a few external links which may help with having difficult conversations from across the pond. It might not be Thanksgiving, but the idea is the same:

Simple tools to disagree better this Thanksgiving | Harvard Kennedy School

How to Stay Calm During Difficult Conversations (like at Thanksgiving!) - Mediate.com

How To Have Constructive Conversations At A Divisive Thanksgiving : NPR

You can find BASW’s code of ethics and social media policies below as well:

Code of Ethics | BASW

BASW's social media policy | BASW

⭐ A busy time to be in politics

You are entitled to get a response, but it is worth remembering that election periods are as busy as it gets for politicians. MSPs and candidates are being asked questions by large numbers of people and may receive hundreds of emails a day.  While they are usually supported by a team of staff for constituent enquiries, , much of that work is limited during the  pre-election period, and they are suddenly much less supported. Conversely, new candidates may not be best prepared to respond to the large volume of enquiries and might be struggling to get back to people. 

  • Give it a week before chasing any emails.
  • If you aren't getting anywhere, try a different mode of communication. Perhaps email the candidate's Party and ask for them to forward your correspondence.
  • Try a telephone call.
  • Ask for a meeting.
  • Remember, if they haven't responded, the likelihood is that may not have seen your correspondence at all, and it probably isn't deliberate. 

Promote the Vote

Promote the Vote (PTV) is a campaign aiming to raise awareness with adults supported by the Learning Disability Service of their rights to register to vote and to subsequently vote in elections should they choose to do so.

This ‘How To’ Guide has been designed to help social workers and social work students supporting individuals with a learning disability in the lead up to local elections and a possible General Election in 2024. It is based on the experience of social workers in Bradford.

It covers the meaning and the value of voting, and the end-to-end process around PTV. Including feedback and good practice advice from social workers, this document encapsulates what involvement in voting looks like, and the benefit it can hold to those participating.

Download the Promote the Vote Guide here

Scottish political party contact details

Scottish National Party (SNP)

Address: Gordon Lamb House, 3 Jackson’s Entry, Edinburgh, EH8 8PJ Phone: 0800 633 5432 Email: info@snp.org Website: www.snp.org

Scottish Labour Party

Address: Donald Dewar House, 139 Norfolk Street, Glasgow, G5 9EA Phone: 0141 572 6900 Email: scotland@labour.org.uk Website: www.scottishlabour.org.uk

Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party

Address: 67 Northumberland Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6JG Phone: 0131 524 0030 Email: info@scottishconservatives.com Website: www.scottishconservatives.com

Scottish Green Party

Address: 19b Graham Street, Edinburgh, EH6 5QN Phone: 0131 557 8592 Email: info@scottishgreens.org.uk Website: greens.scot

Scottish Liberal Democrats

Address: 4 Clifton Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5DR Phone: 0131 337 2314 Email: info@scotlibdems.org.uk Website: scotlibdems.org.uk

Alba Party

Website: albaparty.org

Reform UK Scotland

Website: reformuk.scot

Letter templates

Please use the letter templates below to write to your MSPs and or candidates. The guide above explains some of the rules and provides easy ways to contact them, such as writetothem.com for MSPs and whocanivotefor.co.uk for any candidates, sitting or not.

Before 26 March, you can ask your MSP about any political matter, whether party politics or not. However, after 26 March, we enter the pre-election period, then sitting MSPs cannot talk 'politics' with constituents through their official parliamentary channels, but they are free to discuss anything as a candidate through their party or local campaign email addresses and social media etc. They can also still help with casework issues. This is to prevent sitting MSPs from having an unfair advantage over other candidates. 

The first letter template is aimed at sitting MSPs before the pre-election period, which begins on 26 March. The second template is for any candidate now or after 26 March. So use the bottom one for all MSPs and candidates from 26 March, and for new candidates from now.

As always, if we can be of any help, email Scotland@basw.co.uk or contact our Senior Public Affairs and Communications Officer, George, on george.hannah@basw.co.uk. 

Our election materials

This guide is intended solely to support members in reaching Scottish politicians standing for or already elected to the Scottish Parliament in order to raise our organisation's goals or matters of interest to them personally. We have made every effort to ensure the information in this guide is accurate and will attempt to keep it updated; however, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information published herein, or take responsibility for anything which later changes. We are not responsible for content on external websites.