How to use an Early Day Motion

You’ll often hear Early Day Motions described as “parliamentary graffiti” – but EDMs are actually a useful tool in your parliamentary kit for any cause or campaign you are seeking to draw attention to.

Almost anything is suitable to be an EDM but when tabling yours, remember that no reference should be made to matters before the courts, no unparliamentary language must be used – and stay within your 250 words. EDMs are great way to raise local issues and publicise your constituents’ concerns and have them reported; they are a good way to generate local newspaper headlines along the lines of “MP challenges government” or “MP praises the local post office”.

EDMs can also be used to gain attention or draw a response in another country – what happens in our Parliament can make a difference at a distance.

No specific parliamentary time is allocated to them – and very few are actually debated. Don’t expect your EDM to have a date fixed – regardless of how many signatures it attracts.

The Parliament website has a useful page on EDMs; read it for rules and practices.

The most likely to come to debate are “Prayers” – a special type of EDM tabled by the opposition to annul secondary legislation (statutory instruments). If you are on the government benches, consider withdrawing your EDM to allow the opposition to submit their own.

For example, under coronavirus powers, the government, in my view, wrongly introduced a statutory instrument which appeared to allow landlords to build above existing blocks of flats. My EDM to annul it would not be selected. The campaigning charity Leasehold Knowledge Partnership suggested that if I withdrew the EDM, the official opposition would submit their own – and indeed it was duly debated.