Increase your Visibility ~ Contact your Candidates ~ Make a Plan if you can
This election year is a huge opportunity for community energy. If we are successful in persuading politicians of all stripes that community energy is essential for tackling climate change and delivering for local people, the sector could realise its potential and transform the UK’s energy system for the better. Some parties have made extraordinary pledges to support community energy. Find out what the major parties say about community energy in their manifestos here.
In order of priority, the three main things you can do to help are (please click the links for ideas and resources):
Ed Miliband MP, and prospective parliamentary candidates Joe Powell and Ryan Jude on North Kensington Community Energy rooftop at Westway Leisure Centre
We need community energy organisations (and their members, volunteers and supporters) to actively show local people and politicians what community energy could deliver for them (and their constituents). Do this by connecting with voters and more directly by engaging with local candidates, starting now! Shout about what you do, via every channel you can access. The aim is to create a wave of good news and for community energy to become such a beacon of pioneering brilliance that no politician will be able to resist supporting it or dare to pour cold water on it.
We may also have an important role in keeping climate high on the election agenda. It is one of the electorate's top priorities but this is often not reflected in the national (or local) political debate.
Whatever the General Election result, Parliament will change significantly. An unusually high number of MPs have announced that they will not stand for reelection and the boundaries are changing in almost all constituencies. This represents a significant opportunity for new ideas to be heard. We want every new MP with community energy in their constituency to want to be a community energy champion in Parliament!
Rachel Blake, Labour Coop Parliamentary Candidate for the Cities of London and Westminster, with Cllr Jason Pritchard and Syed Ahmed, Chair of Community Energy London at Aldgate Solar Power
Key Resources
- Find your constituency (and how it would have voted in 2019)
- List of prospective candidates for the general election
- See which parties are leading in your constituency at Seat Explorer
- Find info about local attitudes at the localintelligencehub.com.
- YouGov election projection based on polling (published January 2024)
- What the major parties in England say about community energy
- Guidance on writing to MPs and candidates
- Tips on organising a successful site visit
- Tips on multiplying your impact - via your supporters.
- Friends of the Earth guide to planning an election hustings
- Find your local councillor
- CEE's Parliamentary Briefing
- CEE's proposals for party manifestos