Why should I link a UK government petition to my campaign?
Petitions are quick to set up and enable you to collect signatures from your supporters. Gaining a large number of signatures shows that people care about your cause and can encourage those responsible for the issue to enforce change. Add a petition to an already established campaign and you could see your supporter numbers grow rapidly!
If your petition asks for change to a law or policy, the UK government will only consider petitions that are first created on their website. This article will provide you with all the information necessary to create a government petition, link it to one on Find Others, and connect all of this with your campaign to increase its stature and add legal legitimacy to your movement.
Your first step to bringing about change
If you think your issue is something that politicians should be discussing, connecting your campaign to a government petition is the first step. By law, the house of commons will engage with your issue if enough people sign your petition.
If your petition gets 10,000 signatures, the government will respond.
A government response involves an elected official replying to your petition on the government website. If the issue is something compelling, it may catch their eye and lift your movement to new heights.
The ‘response’ will consist of a few paragraphs detailing how the government plans to resolve your issue, if anything at all. Although a superficial ‘response’ without any real change may be frustrating, this is your first step on the way to rallying support and exposing your issue to the public.
If your petition gets 100,000 signatures, your issue will be considered for a debate in parliament.
Now you are in the big time. You’ve amassed an impressive following and people are starting to notice your campaign. Reaching this impressive landmark means MPs will debate your issue in the house. You can watch them talk live and it will be uploaded on Youtube for you to access.
Feel free to look at the official website and check out some recently added petitions.
How do I add a government petition to my campaign?
Follow these 4 steps to connect your campaign with a government petition:
Create a compelling campaign
Of course, you should start by creating a campaign about an issue that’s important to you. Making a start can be overwhelming, but we’ve provided you with the tools to make this process as smooth as possible. You can find our campaign creation tool here.
Then, you should start to build up a following. For tips on gaining supporters, you may find it helpful to read our article How to find supporters for your campaign.
Now your campaign is ready; it’s time to connect it to a petition.
2. Start a government petition
The only step you cannot complete on the Find Others website is the creation of the government petition itself.
The link to do this is here.
Please note: you must be a British citizen or UK resident to start a petition.
3. Connect a Find Others petition to your government petition
Now you need to make a petition on Find Others and link it with your government one. Using our petition creation tool, follow the steps below and you’ve almost got a legally recognised petition connected to your campaign on Find Others.
Open the UK Government and Parliament website.
Find the government petition you would like to link with.
Copy and paste the URL of the petition.
Choose any parties accountable for the issue (this can be completed at a later time).
4. Add the petition to your campaign
Now you’ve got your campaign. You’ve created your government petition and linked it to a new petition on our site. Only one step remains until everything is fully linked.
On your campaign homepage, locate the “add petitions” section. Here, you can connect any existing petitions you have made to your campaign to boost its stature and give you more presence on Find Others.
If you follow all the steps correctly, you’ll see your Find Others petition on the list and you can add it to your campaign instantly.
Now you know how to add a legally recognised petition to your Find Others campaign, try it out as soon as you can! The quicker you link a petition to your campaign, the more signatures and exposure you will start to attract.