Political

Hooray: a much better email from Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg

Good to see the recent improvements in the party’s general emails continuing with the latest from Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. It has a clear, simple message, presented with a touch of human interest and passion rather than a deadening list of bullet points and decimals points. It even has a hint of a story in it.

What would I change to make it even better? A clearer personal story – as that is what really moves people – and using the email more to enhance the overall Liberal Democrat online presence. Pointing people to a story on The Independent website makes sense in terms of the external credibility that brings, but also pointing people at the necessarily politically restricted Cabinet Office website misses a bit of a trick.

Similarly, although the range of links in the email are all sensible ones, there is most likely a bit too many of them to maximise video views. Either a short email with only one link or a longer email with the key link repeated almost always maximises response.

Here’s the email:

For me, nothing better illustrates the Liberal Democrat mission to make Britain a fairer place than our Pupil Premium: extra money for the most disadvantaged children in our schools.

We are letting schools decide the best way to spend this money. I want to strike a deal with our schools and teachers: we’ll give you the cash, the freedom, and we’ll reward and celebrate your success. But in return, we want you to redouble your efforts to close the gap between your poorer pupils and everyone else. We won’t be telling you what to do; but we will be watching what you achieve.

Video screenshot: Nick Clegg on BBC

(Click picture to play video)

It is shameful that, despite all the promise on a four or five year old’s first day at school, or the passion of their teachers, you can all too often plot that child’s path just by asking how much their parents earn.

The £2.5billion Pupil Premium was one of the four pledges on the front page of our manifesto. And now, with Liberal Democrats in government, schools are using the money for things like breakfast clubs; homework clubs; or to provide one-to-one-tuition. These are the sort of experiences many middle class children take for granted but a poorer child might rarely enjoy.

Yesterday I visited a fantastic primary school to see how they are spending their Pupil Premium, highlight our new Summer Schools to ease the transition from primary to secondary, and to set out our plans to reward teachers and hold schools to account.

The Pupil Premium shows that, in tough times, we are implementing Liberal Democrat values and prioritising help for those pupils who need it most.

Best wishes,

Nick Clegg MP
Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister

PS Click here to find out how much money your local school will receive from the Liberal Democrats’ Pupil Premium.

UPDATE: For a Scottish perspective, see Caron’s post Party HQ mucks up Clegg e-mail – yay!

5 responses to “Hooray: a much better email from Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg”

  1. Mark I thought the spreadsheet was a good idea – but how many people know what a LAEStab number is? The spreadsheet should open in the "For Families" tab not the "School" tab.

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