As elected representatives of a constituency, MPs have the responsibility to represent all members of their constituency. There are numerous ways in which MPs can do this. Most, if not all, MPs will meet their constituents on a regular basis in a “surgery” to provide advice and to receive representations. People can contact their MP if they feel they have been treated unfairly by a Government office or agency, there is a problem in the local area or to ask MPs to support a particular campaign they are interested in. If an MP is asked 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. Many MPs also find that domestic problems are brought to their surgeries. This troubleshooting role has seen some MPs described as glorified social workers. Some MPs (such as the PM and members of the government) may have difficulty representing their constituents effectively due to the demands on their time. Others, such as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, might be restricted in what they can say due to the nature of their jobs.
MPs can make confidential enquiries with officials or a government minister on constituents’ behalf. They can also refer individual cases to be investigated by the Parliamentary Ombudsman. If they agree to support a cause, they may also choose to raise it publicly in the House of Commons – through questions, debates, motions or amendments. MPs may also try to raise your problem in the short Adjournment Debates, which are usually the last business of the day in the House and are also held in the mornings in Westminster Hall. There will be competition amongst MPs for the right to raise matters on adjournment and they must be successful in a ballot or have their subject chosen by the Speaker. An example of an MP who did this was Sandra Osborne of Scottish Labour, representative of Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock until 2015, who was able to hold several adjournment debates on local issues over the past few years.
Furthermore, an MP may be required to represent his constituents abroad. In 2002, for example, MPs were at work making representations on behalf of the British plane spotters arrested and charged in Greece. Following a high-profile political campaign to ensure a fair retrial, all the plane spotters were finally acquitted at appeal in November 2002 and were able to return home.
Many MPs have special personal interests (for example, former Labour MP Jack Ashley, who is deaf, campaigned on behalf of the handicapped). They are often sponsored by pressure groups to act on their behalf. About one third of Labour MPs are sponsored by Trade Unions (for example, Dennis Skinner was sponsored by the National Union of Mine Workers). Here the Trade Union pays some of the candidate’s campaign costs in turn for a voice in parliament where possible. Such financial links are legitimate and no money goes into the MP’s own pockets.
In terms of representing the social background of their constituents, the percentage of female, ethnic minority, young or gay MPs in parliament is rising. UK MPs are now more representative of the wider public in this sense than ever before. For example, Labour MP Imran Hussain represents Bradford East, an area with a lot of ethnic minorities. This means he will have a better understanding of his constituency and will be able to represent them well.
To conclude, MPs should always seek to represent their constituents by whatever means possible, although this is not always possible. This has been the predominate interpretation of an MP’s representative role for over two centuries, since Edmund Burke set out his views in a speech to his Bristol voters in 1774: “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”
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