Louise Rubin, parliamentary and campaigns manager

1. Campaigning in the age of successive
Conservative Governments
Louise Rubin, Parliamentary and Campaigns Manager

3. What Mind does
Support
• Info and legal lines
• resources
Services
• 130 Local Minds
Campaigning
Workplace wellbeing

4. What do we do?
Influence national & local
decision makers
Improve services, change
legislation, set policy and
develop good practice
Put people’s experience at the
heart of policy & campaigns

5. Where we were in 2009
•Stigma and discrimination.
•Long wait times, poor access
•Lack of investment
•Little interest in Westminster
•Unhelpful media narrative

6. Landmark moments
Launch of
Time to
Change:
Growing social
movement
aimed at
changing
attitudes to
mental health
Parity of
Esteem in the
HSC Act:
Made explicit
the NHS’
commitment
to mental
health as well
as physical
Mental Health
Discrimination
Act: Removed
discriminatory
legislation.
MPs ‘came
out’ for the
first time
2009 2012 2013 2014
Waiting time
standards for
mental health:
First ever set of
waiting times;
first signs of
parity in action
2014
Crisis Care
Concordat:
brought together
22 national
bodies to improve
crisis care locally:
huge impact on
police attitudes

7. Landmark moments
2015 General
Election
We invested
heavily and
saw every
party make
significant
commitments
2015 2016 2017 2017
5 Year Forward
View for Mental
Health: £1 billion
committed so that
1 million more
people will be
able to access
mental health
services by 2021
2018
Mental Health Act
Review: Following
our lobbying, the
Prime Minister
announced an
independent
review of the Act.
2017 General
Election: More
mentions of
mental health in
these manifestos
than any other
health condition,
ever
Mind takes on the
DWP: High court
rules that
changes to PIP
regulations are
discriminatory.

8. We’re not there yet though…

9. Recipe for
success
Offline
Online
Data
Lived
experience
Cross
Party
Collaboration
Recipe for
success?
Cross
Party

10. People more willing to speak out
Greater
media
interest
Greater priority for mental health support Greater knowledge and awareness
Greater public interest
Stronger voice for mental
health sector
Greater political interest
Fundamental shift
in how we
view mental
health
2. Service User
Voice

11. A non-partisan social movement
(somewhat)

12. Campaigning AND Influencing

13. Offline
campaigning
Something
to
offer
Economic
arguments

14. Mental Health Alliance
Care and Support Alliance
Disability Charities Coalition
APPG Mental Health
Mental Health Policy Group
Disability Benefits ConsortiumCollaboration

15. What hasn’t worked?
• Direct confrontation…!
• Party conferences
• Pledges

16. Louise Rubin
l.rubin@mind.org.uk
@louisekirsh
Any questions?
To find out more:
www.mind.org.uk

17. 5 February 2020
Campaign Network: Where do we go
from here? Campaigning in the age of
successive Conservative Governments

18. Visit the CharityComms website to view
slides from past events, see what events
we have coming up and to check out
what else we do:
www.charitycomms.org.uk