MPs and you
A councillor is elected by the community to represent them on the local council, the job of a Member of Parliament (MP) is to represent the people of a constituency (a much bigger area) in the national Parliament in London. Your MP is there to help you with all matters for which Parliament or central government is responsible. There are 659 MPs in the United Kingdom.
MPs provide advice to their constituents on any problem they might raise, represent their concerns in Parliament and act as a figurehead for the local area. MPs usually support their party by voting with its leadership in the House of Commons and acting as a representative for the party in their constituency.
Who is my MP?
If you know your full postcode, you can find out who your local MP is see:
The DirectGov website or call the House of Commons Information Office on 020 7219 4272.
People are more likely to know about their local MP than their local councillors: 36% know the name of their councillors compared with 42% who can correctly name their MP. The average person does, however, know more about their council than about Parliament.
How can your MP help?
MPs can give help and advice and they will generally try to assist their constituents with a wide range of problems concerning central government services such as:
- benefits, pensions and national insurance
- immigration and other problems dealt with by the Home Office
- tax problems involving the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise
- NHS
- Child Support Agency
- school grants and closures.
Problems with council services can be raised with a local councillor.
How to contact your MP
Write to your MP at:
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA or call the Parliament switchboard on 020 7219 3000.
This page was last updated on 3 October 2009
