How to email your Prospective Parliamentary Candidates about assisted dying

Contacting your Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs) is one of the most important things you can do to help change the law. Candidates are seeking to become our MPs in the next parliament, so reaching  them now gives ourselves the best possible chance of changing the law in the next parliament.

The most important thing for candidates to hear is personal stories from supporters of assisted dying, in particular from those who have witnessed suffering under the current law.

Candidates receive lots of correspondence from their potential future constituents, so it’s important that you make your email personal. They are more likely to give a considered, open and thoughtful response to a personalised, passionate email. So we encourage you to write in your own words about what the choice of assisted dying would mean to you.

Tips and ideas

You may find the following points useful to include in your email. Remember, you don’t need to be an expert and you don’t need to cover all these points, just choose the ones that feel right for you:

  • Your personal views on assisted dying and why law change matters to you. If you have any personal experience of witnessing suffering under the current law, an assisted death overseas, or you would like the choice of an assisted death yourself, do share this with your candidates, if you feel able to.
  • Our position – be clear that Dignity in Dying is calling for an assisted dying law for terminally ill, mentally competent adults who are in their final months of life.
  • Banning assisted dying is unjust, unfair and unregulated, as detailed in Dignity in Dying’s latest report, Time for Choice. Doing nothing is simply not an option.
    Unjust: Up to 650 terminally ill people a year take their own lives each year in this country, with many more attempts
    Unfair: 17 people a day will suffer as they die in the UK, even with the very best end of life care.
    Unregulated: At least 632 Brits have had assisted deaths in Switzerland, which is around 1 person per week. The cost of an assisted death abroad has increased by 50% to £15,000 on average, which is out of reach of many
  • Dame Esther Rantzen has recently called for the law to change, which chimes with public opinion (8 out of 10 of the British public support assisted dying) from all demographics of society, across all regions and voting intentions.
  • In January 2024, the Express launched a Government petition in support of Dame Esther and Dignity in Dying’s call for parliamentary time for a free and fair debate on assisted dying. In just a couple of weeks the petition is rapidly approaching 100,000 signatures – the number at which the petition will be considered for debate in Parliament.
  • Over 250 million people worldwide have access to some form of assisted dying, in more than 24 jurisdictions including Australia, New Zealand and America. No country that has introduced assisted dying has ever repealed its law.
  • Law change is coming soon to the British Isles. Scotland, Jersey and the Isle of Man are all on the cusp of legislating for choice at the end of life. Most recently, an assisted dying bill passed a vote at second reading in the Isle of Man.  France is also drafting legislation and Ireland has a special committee examining the issue.
  • For Labour candidates: Sir Keir Starmer has reiterated his support for assisted dying, and indicated that he could make time available in the next Parliament for the debate to happen. He said on LBC in January 2024 “I feel that we ought to change the law. It shouldn’t really be for the [DPP] to try and make the law work when it doesn’t really. It would be better for Parliament to actually change the law. So I am an advocate for changing the law… I think the best route would be a private member’s bill… and I would be open for making time for that.”
  • Ask your candidates about their views on assisted dying. Do they support a change in the law? Has their view changed recently? What would it take for them to support an assisted dying bill? Do they support time being given for a debate?

Remember to always be polite when contacting your candidates – your email could be the start of an important conversation and opportunity to build a relationship with your future MP. Don’t forget to include your name and address in your email, as they will only reply to people in their constituency.  And don’t forget to let us know how you get on!

Good luck and thank you.

Contact us

To get in touch, please send an email to activism@dignityindying.org.uk