Dods People provides in-depth biographical profiles for all MPs, Peers, devolved representatives, senior civil servants, MEPs and key EU officials and access to over 6,000 public affairs professionals across the UK and Brussels.
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What information is on Dods People?
People
In-depth information on:
- Members of Parliament
- Peers
- Members of the Scottish Parliament
- Members of the National Assembly for Wales
- Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly
- Senior civil servants
- Members of the European Parliament
- Key EU officials
Institutions
- House of Commons
- House of Lords
- Scottish Parliament
- National Assembly for Wales
- Northern Ireland Assembly
- Government departments
- European Parliament
- European Commission
- EU Organisations
- Applicant and Member States
Public Affairs
- Public affairs professionals
- Public affairs organisations
How is Dods People kept up-to-date?
Dods has provided contact and biographical information about MPs, Peers and the Civil Service in the UK since 1832, and about people across the EU since 2000. Our services, both online and in print, are renowned for their quality and accuracy. Our dedicated editorial teams source the information directly from Parliament and government both in the UK and Europe.
Also see I think I have found something that is out of date – who do I tell?
I think I have found something that is out of date – who do I tell?
We strive to ensure our information is up to date, but people do change email addresses, move offices or leave their roles, and it helps if our clients would let us know about anything like this they find whilst using the system. Please email suggested corrections to editor@dods.co.uk. Thank you.
Do I require a username and password?
The main content of this site is only available to subscribers logged in with a username and password. Alternatively you can register for authenticated IP recognition which will provide you with direct access to the service without the need for a username and password.
Also see: what to do if you have forgotten your password.
Quick search
The quick search, available on every page within the system, allows you to type in a free text term, such as a name, job title or organisation. This will find all relevant matches. For exact matches you enter your search term in quotes, e.g. "David Cameron".
For more on searching see: How do I find a person in your system?
Top navigation menu
The top navigation gives you quick access to the most commonly used types of information within the site, including people, institutions, election results, constituency information. You can also quickly access the My People section from the relevant menu item.
People
This option provides easy access to people by their roles – MPs, Peers, MEPs, MLAs, civil servants and others. Selecting an option will return a list from where you can apply a number of filters and choose to download their details, email them or add them to one of your personal groups.
Institutions
This section is the best way to navigate through the hierarchy of the key institutions of the UK political system.
My People
This section provides easy access to the extensive personalisation features of Dods People, and you can review the logged information you have entered against people, as well as communicate directly with them from within our system.
This information is included in any search but also available from the top navigation bar.
Via the quick search
Type the full name or part of the name into the quick search box. If you search for John Smith, you will be presented with a list of all people who match John or Smith. If you search for "John Smith" you will find only exact matches. Once you have found the MP you require, click the link which will take you to their biography.
Direct navigation to a person (in this case, an MP)
From the top navigation bar, select People > MPs. This will show an alphabetical list of all MPs, allowing you to refine your search using the filters on the right hand side. Once you have found the MP you require, click the link which will take you to the selected biography.
How do I use the filters?
The filters, which show on any listing page, let you refine or expand your search results by applying a wide number of options to your search.
Each filter you add will refresh the results list automatically, in accordance with the filter selected.
Using filters to find all female Labour MPs
– Using the top menu People option, navigate to the listing of all MPs.
- Gender filter – Select female. This will refresh the list to only female MPs.
- Party filter – Select Labour. The list refreshes again to show the female MPs who are members of the Labour Party.
- Party filter – click on "choose more". From the pop-up window, tick "Labour/Cooperative".
- The list refreshes again to show the female MPs who are members of the Labour Party and the Labour/Cooperative Party.
Using the filters to find all Conservative MPs first elected at the 2017 general election.
- Using the top menu People option, navigate to the listing of all MPs.
- From the Person Group filter, select "New MP 2017".
- From the Party filter, select Conservative.
- You can now see the new Conservative MPs.
Extra layers of filtering can be performed by using the export function to send the desired contacts to an excel spread sheet and using that program’s filtering functionality.
What information is shown on a person's biography?
The information we hold depends on the type of person. For example, are they elected? Which organisation are they from? Are they a civil servant, and at what grade?
The page for each person is split into several main areas, which include (where applicable) the sections listed below.
Header
The top area of a person's page can show their photo, their constituency or devolved region, majority, party, job title and contact details including address, phone, email and website. This quick reference header area is always visible wherever you are in the biography.
Below the header are a series of further information tabs, which enable you to access the information we hold on a person. The tabs depend on the type of person you are looking at. These tabs include:
Political – Comprehensive information on political history, including parliamentary career and electoral history, as well as committees and APPGs. On the right hand side of the page there is a quick list of political interests and countries of interest.
Personal – This includes a person’s date of birth, education, and marital and family details. It also shows their career and any trade union or club membership, as well as charities or other organisations supported. The right hand column shows recreations and languages spoken.
Profile – This section is where we display a narrative profile of a MP, giving you a flavour of a Member’s personality, background and political approach, thus providing you with a broader understanding of the individual concerned.
Contact – Provides all address details for the person, which can include parliament, constituency, organisation or government ministry contact information.
Staff – Here you can find contact details for key staff, including researchers, constituency assistants and advisers.
Election – Details all relevant election results since the 2001 general election for that person.
MyPeople – The final tab is where you can see and add to the record of your contact with the person.
How do I navigate through institutions?
The institutions section allows you to navigate through each institution hierarchically to the required level.
Select the top level institution required and you can then a series of additional links to sub-levels of that institution. If at any point you become lost or take a wrong turn, the breadcrumb tool in the top header enables you to navigate back.
Each institution page has been designed to provide you with the most important information, from an overview of the responsibilities, to the key staff and contact details.
Each time you access an institution, you can store a note against them, and add them to a group or a watchlist in My People.
How do I use My People?
My People is where you can store information against people and use our system to send emails. You may build lists and groups of people for inviting to events, briefing mailing lists and so on. You are able combine people from across different datasets and build lists that update as roles change.
My Watchlist
The watchlist is where you keep your most frequent contacts, or people who you want to reference on a regular basis. It's a bit like a shortcuts list. It saves you time navigating through the site to the biography of choice. Simply click the named contact and link directly to their biography page.
Adding a person to a Watchlist: When you are on a biography page, click the 'Add to My Watchlist' option in the My People menu on the top right of the screen. Select 'add' and the system will display a confirmation that it has been actioned.
How do I remove someone from My Watchlist: You have two options. Either go to the My People home page and select the Watchlist tab. Scroll to find the individual and select the X to remove. Confirm the removal and the individual will no longer appear. Alternatively, visit the biography of the contact and select the 'My People' option in the person navigation. Click 'watchlist'. This indicates whether this person is on your watchlist. To take them off this list select 'remove'.
My Notes
From here you may see all notes added. Notes may be added to people, either one-by-one or in a group. You may customise the default headings for notes and reference notes in future from the My People section on the navigation bar or from the My People menu within a person's biography.
Adding a note to a person
To add a note to a person, view their biography page and select the 'Add Note' option from the My People tab. Choose the type of note and add the text.
Once saved the note will be recorded against the person for future reference.
Adding a note to many people at the same time
If you have searched for people, or are viewing a list of people in My People, you are able to add a note to all the records. Select the people you need and click 'Add Note' in the My People section. Select the note type and add the text. Once saved this will be shown in each person's My People biography tab for future reference.
Using groups
Groups enable you to save a group of a number of people to reference at a future occasion.
Create a new group
To create a new group add the name of the group in the new group field in the 'My People' area and click the 'Create New Group' button. This will add the named group to the groups box, making it ready to be used in searches and people pages.
Add contacts to my group
To add contacts to your group you must either create a filtered list and select 'Add to Group' under the My People option. This will ask you which group to add to, and confirm that the people have been added. Alternatively, you are able to add an individual from their biography page by repeating the same procedure.
Remove contacts from my group
To remove a contact, select the X and confirm the removal of the person.
What can I do with my group of contacts?
Once you have created your group, you are able to email them or export their contact details for mailmerges through your regular email application.
Sending an email
The system allows you to email directly from your account to a pre-selected group of individuals. This allows you to email them directly. Each email sent will keep a permanent log against each individual for future reference. You can reference these emails from the My People section on the navigation bar or within an individual’s biography.
Adding a signature: To add a signature to an outgoing email simply select the signature link at the top of an email. This will open the signature box allowing you to edit the text as required. Save and continue.
Export
The system allows you to export contacts directly from your account based on a pre-selected group of individuals. This allows you to export contact information for use within your mailmerge applications. Each export is recorded against each individual and keeps a permanent log against each biography for future reference. You can reference your exports from the My People section on the navigation bar or within an individual’s biography.
For information on what you are allowed to download please see: What information may I download?
What information may I download?
In order to conduct mailmerges in your favoured desktop application, you may download a pre-defined set of fields in a csv file. This file can be opened with most spreadsheet applications, including Excel and OpenOffice spreadsheets.
Please note that we do not allow any user to download information from the Civil Service or the public affairs datasets. Please contact your account manager if you need this information.
Which browsers does Dods People support?
Dods People is designed to work with the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari. In order to enjoy the full functionality you need to be using the latest Java engine and have javascript fully enabled. We cannot guarantee full functionality with older versions of Java or with older browsers.
How do I contact my account manager?
To contact your account manager please email.
How do I register for a demonstration?
To register for a demonstration of Dods People please contact us on + 44 (0)20 7593 5500 or email.
How do I subscribe to Dods People?
To subscribe to Dods people please contact our sales team on: + 44 (0)20 7593 5500 or email.