Lots of MPs are contacted by constituents who are facing housing problems. For instance, you might want to find out why you have been on a housing waiting list for such a long time, or what you can do if your landlord is increasing the rent or threatening eviction. In situations like these, an MP’s office can write on your behalf to the council or landlord, and can sometimes advise you regarding the process of eviction. 

If you are having trouble securing timely and accurate child maintenance because of issues with the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) or with the non-resident parent, your MP should be able to write to the relevant authorities on your behalf and support you with your case.

Your MP should be able to support you by giving advice, or directing you to people who can give you advice, if you’re facing employments problems. If your terms and conditions change at work and you’re unhappy with how your employer is treating you, for example, your MP might be able to apply pressure to the employer to encourage them to reconsider their decisions – and some MPs have campaigned for organisations to reverse pay cuts and redundancies, at bigger organisations.

Your MP might be able to help follow these up for you, and potentially speed up a decision or outcome.

MPs can often write letters to relevant departments and authorities if you are facing difficulties with the NHS.

While an MP cannot provide you with legal advice as their staff are not legally trained, they can often point you in the direction of free local provision, and some can refer you on to local providers.

Your MP might be able to talk these issues through with you, or appeal on the behalf of constituents where a school is being set up or being closed.

You can always write to your MP and ask them to come along to attend or meet with you. It’s important that your MP knows what is going on in their constituency, and they will usually try and come along if time allows.

If you’re passionate about an issue that has affected your personally, your MP can help publicise this, and possibly help you to campaign on it. Perhaps they can speak up in parliament, or set up a meeting with the relevant minister. They might also be willing to table a debate in parliament on the issue, potentially getting national coverage.