What your MP can do for you

What an MP does

Parliament describes MPs as representatives who scrutinise government, consider legislation and raise matters for their constituents. MPs can speak in debates, ask written and oral questions, take part in committees and contact ministers or public bodies. Constituency surgeries provide a way for local people to ask for help. These activities vary from week to week and do not all produce a named record in a public parliamentary data feed.

The House of Commons Library’s casework guide explains the practical work that MPs and their offices may undertake for people in the constituency. A staff member may help with an enquiry, identify the responsible service, request information or refer someone to specialist advice. Outcomes can depend on legal powers, the department involved and the facts of an individual case. An MP cannot guarantee that an agency will make the decision a constituent wants.

When to contact a councillor first

Parliament’s guidance points people to a local council or councillor for many local services, including council tax, refuse collection and street repairs. A devolved legislature or its representative may be more directly responsible for a matter in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Before writing, identify which institution sets the policy and which one handles an individual application or complaint. That can save time and get the issue to the right decision-maker.

If a service has a complaints process, you may need to use it before asking an MP to intervene or before approaching an ombudsman. A councillor can be well placed to take up problems with a council. Citizens Advice or an independent adviser may be better for financial, housing or consumer issues that require case-specific guidance. Parliament’s ‘Who should I contact?’ guide gives a useful starting point but cannot replace professional advice in an urgent or complex case.

How to write a useful request

Explain your connection to the constituency, what happened, which department or organisation is involved and what action you have already taken. Give key dates, a reference number if you have one, and the outcome you are seeking. Include documents only if they are relevant and safe to send. A short, clear account helps an office work out whether it can help, which body to contact and whether there is a deadline.

Do not put private case details into a public correction form or a search query on Westminster Radar. Use the MP’s official parliamentary contact details for casework. For an urgent threat or emergency, contact the appropriate emergency service or support organisation. An MP’s office is not a substitute for a court, a regulator or a professional adviser, and a public website cannot tell you what legal step to take in an individual dispute.

Parliamentary work and casework differ

A vote tells you how an MP was recorded on a specific Commons question. A speech shows words spoken in a public proceeding. A written question asks a department to put information on the record. Casework can happen privately by correspondence and may involve sensitive personal details. Much of it is rightly absent from public datasets. A profile displaying few speeches in a period therefore cannot show that an MP did little constituency work.

An MP can raise a general problem in Parliament without identifying the residents who brought it to their attention. Conversely, work on a constituent’s private case may never produce a debate or written question. Westminster Radar links parliamentary activity to official evidence and states its date coverage. It does not score how responsive an MP is to constituents or claim to know the results of private requests.

Finding and checking your MP

Use the postcode lookup or a constituency search to identify the current MP, then check the link to their official Parliament profile. Constituency boundaries and office holders can change after an election or by-election, so verify the date when it matters. The contact details on Westminster Radar are a snapshot of Parliament’s published contacts; the official profile is the source to consult if an address or email has changed.

Before relying on a reported vote or question, open the individual Parliament record and check its date and wording. For a question of local service delivery, the council or other responsible body may still be the correct first point of contact even if your MP has raised the policy in the Commons. Use the site's guides to understand what the public record says, and the official contact information to address a personal concern directly.

If the issue is unresolved

Keep a record of whom you contacted, when, and any response or reference number. If a government department has not answered, the MP’s office may be able to ask for an update or explain the relevant route for escalation, but it cannot simply overturn every decision. If a council has responsibility, use its complaints process or ask a councillor to help identify the right officer. For matters within devolved responsibilities, check the relevant Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish representative and the public body handling the service. Parliament’s contact guidance also signposts other bodies, including Citizens Advice and ombudsmen. Do not send sensitive case details to a public political-data website to prove that your MP did or did not help. Westminster Radar’s correction route concerns errors in published records; the MP’s official contact channel is the appropriate place for a personal casework request.

Official sources

• UK Parliament: what MPs do
• UK Parliament: who should I contact?
• House of Commons Library: a guide to casework
• UK Parliament: find MPs

Explore the records

• Find your MP
• Browse written questions