British scientists can connect to new Members of Parliament (MPs) through UK professional bodies other than the Campaign for Science and Engineering and the Royal Society (Nature 465, 135; 2010). These bodies include the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the Society of Biology. Scientists need to subscribe to and lobby these as well as the learned society for their own specialism.

The RSC, for example, has led the way on parliamentary liaison with an MP-pairing scheme that precedes that of the Royal Society by many years. The RSC parliamentary unit provides places at the negotiating table for physicists, biologists, engineers and some parliamentarians. It also runs an annual Parliamentary Links Day, which has resulted in several successful interdisciplinary policy ventures.

More support from UK scientists will provide these organizations with resources, guide them in what to do and lend them the democratic credence that parliamentarians value. This is a critical time to maintain the British government's investment in science in real terms.