Matt Ware is the NFU's head of government and parliamentary affairs, based in our Westminster office.
He writes:
Out task is to persuade and influence future politicians so they make British food and farming a priority for the next term of government.
More from Matt...
Rural vote could hold key to 2015 General Election - 'With the tightest General Election in modern political history, the rural vote is arguably the big battle ground.'
2 APR - Farming must be a priority for election hopefuls - 'With the election of the first MP for UKIP, the run-up to the General Election in May promises to deliver some interesting times ahead.'
10 Oct: Political lobbying at the heart of agriculture - 'With the election of the first MP for UKIP, the run-up to the General Election in May promises to deliver some interesting times ahead.'
28 Sept: Support the growth of our British farming industry - Matt reports from our Conservative Party Conference fringe event.
22 September: 47 farming issues for the Labour Party Conference
Read more NFU staff blogs from our roster of farming experts.
And we’re making significant ground.
Figures in so far from the NFU regions show that NFU staff and members in well over 70% of all rural constituencies have held meetings or hustings with prospective candidates, with three weeks of campaigning still to go.
The benefit of meeting prospective parliamentary candidates on farm means they get to see our members businesses first hand; by meeting farmers and visiting their businesses, the issues that politicians read about in manifestos come to life, whether it be on plant protection products or HS2 or flooding or planning.
Farmers and growers are at the heart of the rural community in England and Wales so it is important we get their voices heard on the issues that impact them directly. Candidates are often grateful for the opportunity to address their would-be rural constituents in a professionally run event rather than meeting them in a haphazard way. It also gives voters the opportunity to hear directly from and question their candidates. Where a sitting MP has a very large majority then local discretion applies and an alternative option is to meet the MP on farm to go through the NFU Manifesto.
Our manifesto was launched back in September 2014 and then rolled out at our fringe meetings at the main party conferences. Meanwhile meetings were held with special advisers, sitting MPs, Ministers and prospective candidates to discuss aspects of the NFU manifesto and get our policy suggestions adopted by them.
NFU staff have presented on the election to NFU conference, boards and local branches across the country; to members, group secretaries and staff including 24 visits to county branches across England and Wales and undertaking further Westminster inductions and lobbying training courses.
At the NFU Conference we launched a top ten list NFU manifesto policies along with top five policies by commodity, pledge cards. These are designed to assist members in engaging with MPs and prospective candidates.
County advisers and members have been challenged to make contact with all MPs and candidates of all main parties in their areas, and we have used our database of 3,970 candidates contact details (including their social media details) to assist in this and setting up constituency based hustings with members.
The political landscape will certainly change and the NFU is working hard to make sure we are in a strong position to influence future decision makers at Westminster.
In summary, we are:
- Running the ‘Great British Food Gets My Vote' campaign on NFUonline.
- Contacting all Prospective Parliamentary Candidates in England and Wales.
- Inviting all PPCs on farm or to an NFU hustings event.
- Promoting the NFU manifesto policies, the top ten policies and the top five issues by sector.
- Utilising our new County Advisers to contact and meet candidates.
- Working with all political parties as a coalition is likely.
- Highlighting lobbying on Twitter @NFUPolitical.
Please get involved in any of these activities to ensure your voice is heard in this crucial election.