Contact your MP
You can contact your MP when you, or people living in your area, are affected by decisions made by the UK Parliament or by the Government. MPs represent all the people in their local area, whether they vote for them or not.
- Who is my MP?
- When should I contact my MP?
- How do I contact my MP?
- Does my MP hold surgeries?
- What should I do if my MP hasn’t answered my email/letter?
- What can I ask my MP to do?
- What if the House of Commons is in recess - can I still contact my MP?
- What if my MP is a Minister, Speaker or Deputy Speaker?
- Can I contact other MPs?
Who is my MP?
Who your MP is depends on where you live. The UK is divided into 650 areas called constituencies, and each constituency is represented by one MP. MPs will generally only act on behalf of people who live in their own constituency, so please check you are contacting the right MP for your address.
You can use your postcode or a place name to search our Find MPs service and find out the name of your MP and how to contact them.
When should I contact my MP?
You could contact your MP:
- If you feel you have been treated unfairly by a Government office or agency
- To let your MP know about a problem affecting people in your local area
- To ask your MP to support a particular campaign that you feel strongly about
Your MP is not always the best person to help with an issue. Before you contact your MP please see our advice on who else may be able to help:
How do I contact my MP?
Writing is probably the best method, as it provides a written record that can be referred to later. You can:
- Write a letter to your MP at: House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
- Email them using the contact details in our Directory of MPs
Remember to always include your own address when you write to your MP so that they will know you live in their constituency.
If writing is not possible or you just want to ask a quick question or make an appointment, you can telephone your MP’s office.
- To telephone their office at the House of Commons, call 020 7219 3000 and ask to be put through to their office giving your MP’s name
- To phone your MP at their local constituency office, you will find the contact details at your local town hall or library, or it may be given in the Directory of MPs
MPs may also have their own locally run websites, and be active on social media. Where possible, we have added these details to the information in the Directory of MPs.
Does my MP hold surgeries?
Many MPs hold regular sessions called surgeries where they meet with constituents to talk about issues of concern.
Your MP’s website, or your local library, may have more information about when and where surgeries are taking place. Otherwise please contact your MP's office to enquire about surgeries.
What should I do if my MP hasn’t answered my email/letter?
MPs receive a large amount of correspondence, so cannot always reply immediately. If you haven’t heard back from them after about two weeks, you should follow up your email or letter with a phone call, or make an appointment to go and see them at their local surgery.
What can I ask my MP to do?
MPs can make confidential enquiries with officials or a government minister on your behalf. They can also refer individual cases to be investigated by the Parliamentary Ombudsman. If they agree to support a cause you have raised with them, they may also choose to raise it publicly in the House of Commons – through questions, debates, motions or amendments.
If you ask your MP to support something that conflicts with their party’s policy, or with the interests of other local people, they may decide that they cannot help you.
What if the House of Commons is in recess - can I still contact my MP?
A recess is a break in the parliamentary session (year) where Parliament is not sitting. Although MPs will not be taking part in debates or bill committee proceedings in the Commons, MPs can still help their constituents and may table questions or put their names down to sign Early Day Motions.
MPs often return to their constituencies during long recesses, but you can still contact your local MP at either their parliamentary or constituency offices.
What if my MP is a Minister, Speaker or Deputy Speaker?
If your MP becomes a government minister, the Speaker or one of their deputies, they are still able to help with problems that affect their constituents. They will, though, use other methods instead of raising issues publicly in the Chamber.
Can I contact other MPs?
You should always contact your local MP about your case or about an issue you would like to be raised at Parliament.
If you wish to find out which MPs take a special interest in a particular topic or campaign you could:
- Check the Register of All-Party Groups to see if there is a relevant group and find out which MPs have joined
- Search Parliamentary Material to see if any MPs have asked questions, tabled motions or spoken in debate on the subject recently
- Find the select committee that covers the general policy area of the issue (such as Health or Transport) and find out who its members are
- Find out who the party spokespeople are for that subject in Parliament
If you are interested in a particular bill (law) that is going through Parliament, you could use the Bills before Parliament pages to look at which MPs have spoken at its second reading debate and which have been selected to serve on its public bill committee. You can also send in your views on a bill to the committee as a whole while it is sitting.
It is not a good use of your time to contact every MP in the country about an issue; they receive a lot of correspondence from their own constituents and mass mailings will not get their attention.
If you intend to send a letter to more than one MP you will need to individually stamp, address and post each letter using the national network and paying the appropriate postage. Direct deliveries by hand are not permitted.