Contacting your MP

By contacting your MP you are exercising your right to raise an issue of concern to you with your democratically elected representative. MPs do listen to the views of their constituents and will often follow up your enquiries by contacting the relevant government minister.

By letter
It’s usually a good idea to write first to your MP setting out the issue or campaign which concerns you. This can then be followed up with a telephone call or personal meeting with your MP or her/his staff as appropriate.

Write to your MP at House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. Many MPs work from their local constituency offices when Parliament is not in session (known as the recess). During such times, House of Commons staff will forward MPs’ mail to their constituency offices.

MPs receive an enormous amount of correspondence and they have limited staff assistance. It may be some time before you receive a reply. Be as clear as possible about what you want your MP to do about the issue which concerns you. If the issue involves your local council, s/he may direct you to your councillor who may be in a better position to help. If you want your MP to raise your issue in Parliament or with ministers and civil servants, say so in your letter. Remember that MPs may be able to bring pressure to bear on ministers and government but may have rather less influence with other organisations such as private companies.

By telephone
Call the Houses of Parliament switchboard on 020 7219 3000. Ask to be put through to your MP’s office. You can expect either one of your MP’s staff to answer or you’ll be put through to her/his answering service. Don’t insist on speaking to your MP in person. MPs spend most of their time away from their office either in Parliament or at outside meetings. MPs’ staff are usually authorised to deal with most matters on their behalf. Ask whether your MP has had a chance to look at your letter and whether s/he supports your campaign. It may be appropriate at this stage to ask if you and your fellow campaigners can make an appointment to see your MP.

Email
Nearly all MPs now have an email address to use in correspondence with them. They are sent literally hundreds of emails every day by individuals, organisations, lobbyists and others so it is important that you state clearly at the top of your email your address and your postcode. This will ensure that your email can be immediately identified as one which needs attention rather than those which are ignored or deleted.

Surgeries
Most MPs hold weekly surgeries for constituents. These are usually held on Fridays or Saturdays in different areas of their constituency. Your town hall, library or Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) will give you details of your MP’s surgeries. People visit their MP’s surgery about a wide range of issues and personal problems. You may have a long wait to see her/him. Some busier MPs operate an appointments system for their surgeries. Again, your town hall, library or CAB will advise you about this.

Find out who your MP is

Click this link to go to a website which can help you to find out who your MP is.

Find my MP

Contacting other MPs

There is a convention among MPs that they do not respond to letters from the constituent of another MP unless the issue directly affects their constituency. Therefore it is unlikely to be effective to send letters to MPs other than your own. However in some circumstances this might be valuable. For instance, if you are writing about an issue to do with a hospital in your area, it may be useful to write to your own MP, the MP who’s constituency contains the hospital and other MPs in the area who’s constituents will regularly use the hospital.