With the UK General Election around the corner, we’re calling on all candidates to speak up for mental health. Use this template email to email your candidates – you can find out who’s standing in your local area, and their email address, here.
Write to your candidates using the email template below
Dear [candidate]
I’m writing to you as a voter in [place] constituency, regarding your candidacy in the general election.
Recent polling conducted for Rethink Mental Illness found that mental health is more important to UK voters than unemployment, industrial action and Brexit. People under 40 rank its importance even above climate change.
Given that mental health is a priority for so many voters, including myself, I wanted to make sure that you have the information you need to campaign and, if elected, work effectively in Parliament and my constituency on this key issue:
- People with severe mental illness die 15-20 years younger than the wider population. This means hundreds of thousands of people a year in the UK are dying too soon
- Mental illness is one of the UK’s leading causes of ill health, disability and economic inactivity
- In England alone, mental ill health costs £300 billion a year – more than twice the entire NHS budget.
These are grim statistics, but there is hope. Many evidence-based preventative and support measures can be taken to improve mental health. Alongside leading members of the mental health sector, Centre for Mental Health has set out concrete policies for building a mentally healthier nation, endorsed by over 70 organisations. We’re calling on the next Government to put these into action as part of a cross-government plan for mental health.
As a local candidate, I’m asking you to work for a mentally healthier nation and endorse this approach.
Kind regards,
[Your name]
