Last June hundreds of geeks from around the UK set their MPs and Welsh Assembly Members (AMs) some homework for the summer holidays. Our representatives each received a copy of Mark Henderson's The Geek Manifesto: Why Science Matters, some from their constituents and others directly from the publisher, Transworld books.

The geeks (me included) heard Henderson's rallying cry, that the flagrant disregard for evidence in government policy decisions should no longer be tolerated. The hope was that if politicians read the catalogue of evidence abuse and Henderson's suggestions for countering it, a more robust and rational decision-making process might emerge.

Henderson argues that evidence abuse and the lack of evidence collection is not entirely politicians' fault. After all, only one of our MPs has had a career in research science. Another difficulty is that our political system does not support evidence-based decision-making. In science, if an experiment produces results that are contrary to one's belief the scientist should, in principle, change her mind. But in politics this sort of U-turn is unacceptable. Indeed, initiating an evidence-based study may simply result in the politician producing a stick to beat himself with.

Nevertheless, the book starts by describing the many and varied ways that our decision makers abuse evidence to support their agendas. From sacking experts who disagree with them, as happened with the government drugs adviser David Nutt, to selectively quoting studies that put their policies in the best light, and sometimes just plain old making stuff up. It's a fascinating and sometimes infuriating catalogue of fact fiddling.

Last summer, some of the culprits remained unrepentant. In a Radio 4 studio (which also contained Henderson and Nutt) Andrew Marr put it to the former home secretary David Blunkett that ministers hunt out experts who agree with them. Blunkett laughed and replied "Yeah, of course we've all done it.".

Most other MPs seemed to take the matter a whole lot more seriously. Dave Watts, the blogger who instigated the campaign to distribute copies of the books, has a gratifying pile of thank you letters from MPs. Some express unbridled enthusiasm, "I grabbed it [the book] with a yelp of joy … I look forward to devouring every word and to the day that geeks rule the world," from Paul Flynn. Most promised to at least read the Geek Manifesto during their summer holidays. Unfortunately, plenty of other MPs were not even courteous enough to acknowledge receipt. Notable in this camp was Tessa Jowell, Mark Henderson's own MP.

A year on, has our politicians' use of evidence improved any? On the one hand, Michael Gove has been caught quoting statistics from five-year-old surveys carried out by UKTV Gold and the Premier Inn. To be fair, he did also commission Bad Science campaigner Ben Goldacre to look into building evidence into education. But Jeremy Hunt and David Tredinnick are still extolling the virtues of homeopathy (sometimes as a means to outflank Ukip). And it seems somewhat laughable that a man who has expressed a belief that the phases of the moon affect blood clotting (Tredinnick again) can be appointed to the Commons Science Committee. On the plus side, both Paul Flynn and Bill Wiggins have invoked the Geek Manifesto on the floor of the Commons.

But what about the rest of them? Time for another spot of homework for our MPs, a book review perhaps (we will, of course, be expecting Gove to complete his under exam conditions)? Have they read the book, and if so what did they think of it? Or are all those copies of the Geek Manifesto unread and gathering dust on desks and shelves across Westminster and Cardiff Bay?

So I urge you to write to your MP and ask for their thoughts on the tales of evidence abuse and the rise of the geeks laid out by Mark Henderson.

There's a copy of the letter I'm sending to my MP on my blog, copy it, edit it anyway you see fit, send it to your MP. If and when your MP and/or AM replies please share the response. Send me an email (HaveTheyReadIt@gmail.com) or tweet (@sci_ents) with a copy of the MPs' reply. I'll make them all freely available and then publish a summary of their replies on this blog.

Mark Lorch is a card-carrying geek and lecturer in chemistry at the University of Hull, he blogs at www.t2ah.com and tweets as @sci_ents