PUK, Discover Parliament

DiscoverParliament

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What is Parliament? 2

Parliament and Government 3

The House of Commons 4

Elections 5

Who’s Who in the House of Commons? 7

What Does the House of Commons do? 9

How Laws are Made 11

The House of Lords 13

The Government 17

The Monarchy 19

Test Your Knowledge 20

Find Out More 21

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Contents

Did you know?

As well as being considered verywise creatures, a group of owlsis known as a parliament.


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What is Parliament?

Did you know?

The only time that the threeparts of Parliament meettogether is for the StateOpening when the monarchopens the new Parliamentarysession (year).

The Parliament of the United Kingdomconsists of:

• The House of Commons (659 electedMembers of Parliament or MPs)

• The House of Lords (approximately 700 unelected members, most of themappointed for life)

• The Queen (our hereditary monarch)

What does Parliament do?

Parliament is responsible for making andchanging the laws of the United Kingdomand for checking (scrutinising) the workof the Government.

Why do we need Parliament?

We live in a democratic country, which means that we can all have a say in how the country is run. We do this by electingMPs to represent our views in the House ofCommons; the part of Parliament which hasthe greatest political power. The expertiseand independence of members of the Houseof Lords complement the work of the Houseof Commons.

What is Devolved Government?

To give the people of Scotland, Walesand Northern Ireland more say over whathappens in their own countries, the UKParliament has given (devolved) some of its powers to other national and regionalbodies. In Scotland, for example, there is the Scottish Parliament which has electedmembers who make some decisions forScotland. Wales and Northern Ireland also have their own Assemblies. A GreaterLondon Assembly has also been established.


What is the Government?

The Government is like the management of the country. It is made up of about 100 members of the political party whichwins the most seats at a general electionand so has the most MPs in the House ofCommons. Most of those in the Governmentwill be MPs but some will be members ofthe House of Lords.

What is the difference betweenParliament and Government?

While the job of Government is to run thecountry, the job of Parliament is to checkGovernment is carrying out its role properlyand effectively. To do this, Parliament haspowers to limit the Government and prevent it from becoming too powerful. Government isaccountable to Parliament for all of its actions.

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Parliament and Government

Governing Party Governing Party Opposition Parties & Crossbenchers

Shadow Ministers

Whips

Back-benchers

Law Lords

Bishops

Opposition Parties

Shadow Ministers

Whips

Back-benchers

Back-benchers

Back-benchers

House of Commons 659 MPs House of Lords c 700 Members

MinistersWhips

Prime Minister

Ministers

Whips

Government

Did you know?

The word parliament comesfrom the French word ‘parler’which means to speak.

Decisions taken by Parliamentare made only after lots ofdebating (talking) has beendone.


The House of Commons

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Did you know?

The seats in the House ofCommons are green in colourbecause green dye was one of the easiest and cheapest to produce so was more easilyavailable to common people.

What is the House of Commons?

The House of Commons is made up of659 Members of Parliament (MPs) whoare elected by the voters (the electorate)to each represent an area of the UK whichis known as a constituency. We all livein a constituency and have an MP torepresent us in the House of Commons.

MPs represent all of the people who live in their constituency, whether or not theyvoted for him or her.

What does the House of Commons do?

The main functions of the Houseof Commons are:

• To pass laws

• To provide (by voting for taxes) the money which the government needs to carry out its work

• To check (scrutinise) that the governmentis doing its work properly

• To debate the major issues of the day

Where does the House of Commons meet?

The House of Commons meets in a specialchamber within the Palace of Westminsterin London. The seats in the House ofCommons are green.


What is a general election?

Fair and free elections are an essential part of a democracy, allowing the people to have a say in how they want the country to be governed. A general election is heldwhen Parliament is dissolved (closed) by themonarch on the advice of the Prime Minister.

In the UK, unlike in many other countriessuch as the USA, we do not have a fixedamount of time between general elections.There is no minimum length of a Parliamentbut the maximum time is five years, and it is up to the Prime Minister to decide whento hold an election within this period. He orshe will hope to choose a time when theirparty will win again.

What happens at election time?

The United Kingdom is divided up into659 areas called constituencies. We havethree main political parties - Conservative,Labour and Liberal Democrats and a numberof other smaller parties. Each party thatwants to win a constituency will select oneperson to be their candidate and will try to persuade people to vote for that personand their policies. There may also beindependent candidates.

To be a candidate in a general electionyou must be aged 21 or over and a citizenof Britain, the Commonwealth or the IrishRepublic. Some people have jobs wherethey need to be politically impartial (such as judges, police officers and civil servants) so are disqualified. All candidates must pay a £500 deposit which they will only get back if they secure at least 5% of thevotes cast in their constituency.

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Elections

Did you know?

In the 2001 general electionthere were 179 registeredpolitical parties. Only 9 of theseparties succeeded in winningseats. There were also a numberof independent candidates, one of whom was elected.


Who can vote in parliamentary elections?

To be able to vote you must be aged 18 orover and a British, Irish or Commonwealthcitizen. Some people are not allowed to vote such as people in prison for more than12 months and those in mental hospitals. You must also have your name on theelectoral register. Each autumn a registrationform is sent to every household for details of those who are, or are about to reach, 18, but you can add your name at any time.

Voting is not compulsory: you do not haveto vote if you do not want to but it is yourchance to have your say in how the countryis governed. You can vote in person, by postor by proxy (letting someone cast your votefor you).

What happens on election (polling) day?

The time between Parliament being dissolvedand election day is known as an electioncampaign. This usually lasts for about threeweeks and all of the parties and candidateswill try to persuade voters to vote for themby putting up posters, sending out leaflets,knocking on doors and holding meetings.

General elections are usually held on aThursday. Voting takes place from 07.00until 22.00 in a number of places throughouteach constituency known as pollingstations. These are often school and villagehalls. Each voter has one vote which theycast for the candidate of their choice. Thecandidate with the largest number of votesbecomes the MP for the constituency. Thisvoting system is called ‘first-past-the-post’.If a Member dies, retires or is disqualifiedbetween elections then a by-election (anelection only in the constituency withoutan MP) is held.

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Did you know?

Since 1872 voting has been by secret ballot (in private).This is to stop people frombeing bribed or threatened intovoting for a particular candidate.


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Did you know?

The House of Commonsoriginally sat in a chapel withthe Speaker’s chair in front ofthe altar and Members sitting inthe choir stalls. This is why thetwo main parties sit oppositeeach other in the Chamber.

The leader of the political party with the mostseats (MPs) in the House of Commons (thegoverning party) becomes Prime Minister.He or she chooses a number of seniormembers of their party to become ministers.Ministers sit on the front bench in the Houseof Commons, so are known as front-benchers.They lead debates and answer questions abouttheir departments from the despatch box.

The party which has the second largestnumber of seats in the House of Commonsis known as the Official Opposition.

Its leader is known as the Leader of theOpposition and will also choose seniormembers of his or her party to be shadowministers. They sit on the front benchopposite the Government so are knownas Opposition or Shadow front-benchers.

All of the other smaller parties are known as Opposition parties even though somemay support the Government.

All of the MPs who are not either ministers or Shadow ministers are known as back-benchers.

Who’s Who in the House of Commons?

The Commons Chamber

1 Speaker's Chair2 Table of the House3 Despatch boxes4 The Mace5 Aye Division Lobby6 No Division Lobby7 Government Front bench8 Government Back benches9 Opposition Front bench10 Opposition Back benches11 Liberal Democrats12 Other smaller Parties13 Clerks at the Table14 Serjeant at Arms

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Who are Whips and what do they do?

Each party chooses a number of its MPsto be Whips. Whips are responsible formaking sure that all members of the partyknow what is going on and know who togo to if they have a problem. They are alsoresponsible for party discipline.

Each party issues its Members with a weeklytimetable of what is happening in the Houseof Commons and gives guidance as to howthe party hopes its Members will vote onissues. This timetable is also known as theWhip. Votes (divisions) are underlined once,twice or three times according to howimportant the party thinks that the issuesare. All MPs are expected to be present tovote on issues which are underlined threetimes (a three-line whip) unless they have special permission from their Whip to be absent.

Who keeps the House of Commonsin order?

The House of Commons can be a very noisyplace when lots of MPs have very strongviews and may all want to speak in a debate.It is the job of the Speaker to keep order in the Chamber and to make sure that asmany MPs as possible are able to take partin the debate.

The Speaker is an experienced MP who ischosen by all of the other MPs to be theirSpeaker at the beginning of each Parliament.Once chosen, the Speaker must give up all party views and be politically impartialso that he or she can be fair to all. TheSpeaker’s most well known words are “Order,Order” and all MPs, even the Prime Minister,must obey him or her.

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Did you know?

The Speaker is so called becausehe or she speaks on behalf ofthe House of Commons –he or she is unable to speak indebates or ask questions andkeeps order in the Chamber.


Did you know?

‘No taxation withoutrepresentation’. The House ofLords does not play a significantpart in financial matters asthey are not elected and onlyour elected representatives can decide on taxes.

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What Does the House of Commons do?Making Laws

New laws are needed to deal with ourconstantly changing society, hence theHouse of Commons spends nearly half ofits time making new laws which are knownas Statute Laws. Laws are made in differentways, for example, some are made by theEuropean Union because when we joined in 1973 we agreed to obey European laws.Some of our laws have developed overhundreds of years from decisions made by judges in law courts – these are known as Common Law.

Debates

The House of Commons is where majorissues of the day are debated with differentarguments being put forward and opinionsgiven. In this way all MPs have the chanceto express their concerns and make theirviews, and those of their constituents,known. At the end of a debate MPs givetheir opinion by voting either aye (yes) or no.

Controlling Money

The Government needs money in order to be able to run the country. It raises this from taxes. Each year, usually in Marchor April, the Government minister responsiblefor finances, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,makes a statement to the House of Commonsin which he explains how he intends to raisethe money which the Government needs to spend. This is known as the Budget.

The House of Commons has a duty on behalfof the people of the country to make surethat the Government is not raising taxeswithout good reason and is spending themoney wisely.


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Examining the Work of the Government

Parliament has a duty to keep a check on(scrutinise) the work of the Government. It does this in a number of ways.

Select Committees

Select committees in the House ofCommons check the work of governmentdepartments. There is a committee for everymajor department. Committees are usuallymade up of 11 MPs who meet together toconduct enquiries into areas of the workof their particular department. They cantake written evidence and ask for witnessesto come and answer questions, usuallyin public. At the end of an inquiry thecommittee publishes a report whicheveryone can read and which may bedebated in Parliament. This means thatquestions are always being asked aboutthe work of departments and attentioncan be drawn to matters of concern. TheGovernment must respond to each reportalthough it is not bound to accept thecommittee’s recommendations.

Question Time

Question Time takes place for almost anhour on Mondays to Thursdays. Ministers areresponsible for the work of their departmentsand must answer questions about once a month. Any MP can apply to ask an oral(spoken) question but there will not betime for all of them to be answered.Questions can also be answered in writing.In this way ministers, including the PrimeMinister, are answerable to the House ofCommons for their work.

The Opposition

Opposition parties can question the workof the Government and have set times whenthey can choose the topics for debate. TheOfficial Opposition mirrors the Governmentwith its Shadow Cabinet and presentsalternative policies so that voters have a choice at election time. On internationalmatters and at times of crisis the Oppositionwill often agree with the Government andoffer its support.

Did you know?

Unlike many other worldleaders, the Prime Ministeranswers questions from MPs inthe House of Commons aboutthe work of the Government for30 minutes each Wednesdayat 12 noon.


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Did you know?

Some of the stages of a bill are called Readings because, in the days before printing,the only way for Members tofind out what a bill said wasby having it read out to them in the Chamber.

No new law can be made unless it hascompleted a number of stages in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords and has been signed by themonarch. A proposed new law is known as a Bill and can only become an Act of Parliament, and the law of the land, once it has completed all of its stages.

Preparatory Stages

Before a bill is introduced, those people whoare likely to be affected may be consultedand discussion documents, called Green and White Papers, may be produced.

House of Commons

First ReadingThe bill is first introduced into Parliamentso that people know that it is coming upfor discussion.

Second ReadingThis is a very important stage where theminister in charge will explain the purposeof the bill and answer questions. All MPs can attend the debate and vote on the bill.

Committee StageMost bills are considered by a small groupof between 15 and 50 MPs in a StandingCommittee. Here the bill can be examinedin detail and changes (amendments) canbe made.

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How Laws are Made


Report StageAny amendments made by the committeeare reported in the Commons for all MPs to consider. New amendments may also be introduced at this stage.

Third ReadingMPs vote for the final time as to whetherthey want the bill to progress or not. If they agree the bill goes to the House ofLords for them to consider.

House of Lords

First ReadingThe bill from the Commons is announced in the House of Lords.

Second ReadingThis is the main debate on the bill.

Committee StageThis is where detailed clause-by-clauseexamination of the bill takes place. All members of the House of Lords canparticipate and amendments can be proposed.

Report Stage

This is a further chance to change the bill.

Third Reading

Last chance for discussion and, unlike theCommons, to make further amendments.

Royal Assent

Once both Houses have agreed with eachother’s changes then the bill goes to themonarch for Royal Assent. It can then becomethe law of the land as an Act of Parliament.

Note: Bills can begin in either House (above, the bill is assumed to have started in the House of Commons). Bills which start in the Lords go through the same stages. 12

Did you know?

Sometimes a bill goesbackwards and forwardsbetween the two Housesbecause they cannot agreewith each other’s changes. This is sometimes referred to as ‘ping-pong’.

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What is the House of Lords?

The House of Lords is the second chamber in the United Kingdom’s Parliament. It hasalmost 700 members. Members of the Houseof Lords together have great breadth ofexpertise and, individually, are characterisedby independence of thought. They complementthe work of the House of Commons bymaking laws, scrutinising the Governmentand providing independent expertise.

What does the House of Lords do?

Makes Laws

All bills must be agreed by both Houses of Parliament before receiving Royal Assentand becoming law. All bills that comefrom the House of Commons will bereviewed and some bills will start their life in the Lords.

If the Lords make changes that the Commonsdo not like then the bill will go backwardsand forwards between the two until agreementis reached. If they cannot agree then theLords can only delay the passage of a bill forabout a year. This is because the House ofCommons is our elected House and its wishes

take precedence. However, the House ofLords can stop a bill to extend the life of a Parliament beyond five years to makesure that an unpopular Government cannotdelay elections to stay in power.

Examines the Work of the Government

Parliament has a duty to check on (scrutinise)the work of the Government. The House of Lords does this in a number of ways.

Debates

The House of Lords holds debates which give a valuable opportunity to discussmatters of public interest or to talk abouta report which has just come out. Thesedebates draw on the members’ wide rangeof knowledge and expertise. In times ofcrisis special debates will be held in theLords at the same time as in the Commons.

Question Time

Government ministers in the Lords haveto answer questions about their work asin the Commons. Question time takesplace at the beginning of each sitting dayfor about half an hour. Questions can alsobe asked and answered in writing.

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Did you know?

The House of Lords spends two-thirds of its time revisingand improving new laws. Manythousands of amendments areconsidered each year, a largenumber of which are accepted.

The House of Lords


Provides Independent Expertise

Like the Commons, the Lords have selectcommittees. The main difference is that,instead of looking at the work of governmentdepartments, Lords’ select committees dealwith broader issues such as scientific,economic and constitutional affairs. Theyalso have a major role in scrutinisingEuropean laws. When a committee finishesits work on a particular matter it publishesa report for the House to debate and forthe public to see what it has discovered.

Judicial Work

The House of Lords is the highest court in the land. If the judge in a lower court is unsure about a point of law it can bereferred through higher courts until itreaches the House of Lords. This judicialwork is carried out only by highly qualifiedjudges called Law Lords.

As the members of the House of Lords arenot elected they have no power over howour taxes are raised and spent. Parliament’swork on these matters is all done by theHouse of Commons.

What types of Lords are there?

Currently there are four types of Lords:

Life PeersMost of the members of the House of Lordsare life peers. They are appointed by themonarch on the advice of the Prime Ministerfor the duration of their lives, often forservices to the country. This ensures a widerange of knowledge (expertise) amongst the membership of the House of Lords.

Hereditary PeersThe House of Lords Act 1999 effectivelyremoved the right of peers who inherited theirtitles from their family to sit and vote in theHouse except for 92. The 92 who remain areno longer able to pass on to their children theright to sit as a member of the House of Lords.

Law Lords

The country’s most senior judges, known as Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, are appointedto the House of Lords, which is also thehighest court in the land.

BishopsThe 26 most senior Archbishops andBishops of the Church of England aremembers of the House of Lords.

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Did you know?

Members of the House of Lordsonly wear robes during theState Opening ceremony once a year. On a normal day,members wear business suits.


Where does the House of Lords meet?

The House of Lords meets in a specialchamber at the opposite end of the Palace of Westminster to the House of Commons.The seats in the House of Lords are red.

How is the House of Lords organised?

The House of Lords is organised on aparty basis in much the same way asthe Commons with all the major parties,together with some of the smaller parties,being represented by peers. The Governmentsits on the benches on the right side of thethrone with ministers sitting on the frontbench. Opposition members sit oppositewith the shadow ministers sitting ontheir front bench.

Most senior ministers are members of theHouse of Commons but most governmentdepartments will have one minister who isa member of the Lords to answer questionsand to speak for his or her department.

Who keeps the House of Lords in order?

Members of the House of Lords are moreorderly and polite than MPs so do not needanyone to keep them in order. In the Lords,the Leader of the House is the leader ofthe governing party and gives advice toall peers. The Lord Chancellor is a seniormember of the Cabinet who sits on theWoolsack. His role is very different fromthat of the Speaker in the House ofCommons as he does not keep order anddoes not decide who should speak next.

Who are the Whips and what do they do?

As in the House of Commons the partiesin the House of Lords appoint Whips tobe their business managers and to helpwith communication. Party discipline is notso strong in the House of Lords as members are more independent.

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The House of Lords

Did you know?

Set into the red benches of the House of Lords are littleloudspeakers like the one above– which help members hear what is being said.


House of Lords Chamber

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Did you know?

At time of writing, the office of the Lord Chancellor – as wellas the role of the House ofLords as the highest court inthe land – is under review by the Government.

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The Government

What is the Government?

The Government is chosen by the leaderof the political party which has the majorityof seats in the House of Commons. It is madeup of about 100 MPs and members of theHouse of Lords who become governmentministers. The Government is like themanagement of the country and proposespolicies which determine how the countryis run.

The Conservative party won the generalelection in 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1992so we had a Conservative Government foreighteen years. The leader of the governingparty becomes the Prime Minister so we hadMargaret Thatcher and then John Major asConservative Prime Ministers. Since Labour’selection victory in 1997 and again in 2001we have had a Labour Government withTony Blair as Prime Minister.

What is the Cabinet?

The Prime Minister chooses about 20 seniormembers of the Government to form theCabinet. The majority of members of theCabinet come from the House of Commonsbut there will also be a few members fromthe House of Lords. Heads of governmentdepartments and other senior figures suchas the Lord Chancellor will normally beincluded in the Cabinet but the finaldecision rests with the Prime Minister.

The Cabinet usually meets on a Thursdaymorning in private in the Cabinet Room at10 Downing Street. It decides on whichpolicies should be introduced at what timeand how the Government should respond to what is happening.

Did you know?

10 Downing Street was given to Sir Robert Walpole by KingGeorge II in 1732. It has beenthe official residence of thePrime Minister ever since.


What are Government Departments?

The work of the Government is dividedbetween departments of state which eachspecialise in a particular subject, such as the Department for Education and Skills, the Home Office or the Department of Health.The minister in charge of a governmentdepartment is usually a Cabinet ministerand is often called a Secretary of State.He or she may have been chosen for his orher special interest in, or knowledge of, thesubjects handled by the Department and willmake all the important decisions affectingthe Department. The Secretary of State willbe helped by one or more junior ministers.

Although the majority of members of theGovernment belong to the House of Commons,most departments will have one ministerwho sits in the House of Lords. As well astheir work within their departments ministershave to speak and answer questions on thework of their department in Parliament.

Who are civil servants?

Ministers may not stay in their departmentsfor very long and all will change if a newGovernment is chosen at election time. Theyare helped in their work in their departmentsby officials who are known as civil servants.Civil servants are not members of politicalparties and serve each Government. They may spend years in one department and have time to become experts in their work or to develop technical skills which areneeded to run services throughout the country such as the benefits system.

Ministers rely on civil servants for informationand advice when working out policies butmust be the ones who make the finaldecisions as they, and not the civil servants,are accountable to Parliament and the people.

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Did you know?

There are about 500,000civil servants doing variousjobs from assisting ministersto working in benefit officesand job centres throughout thecountry. Over 400,000 workoutside of London.


In the United Kingdom we have a hereditarymonarchy which means that the title passesfrom one member of the royal family toanother – usually to the eldest son, or ifthere are no sons, to the eldest daughter,as was the case with Queen Elizabeth. Ourcurrent royal family is the House of Windsor.

At one time the monarch was very powerfuland ruled the country. Gradually the peoplewanted to have some say in how the countrywas run. The current House of Lords developedfrom the council of wise men who werechosen to give advice to the monarch.

Later members of the House of Commonswere elected by the people and graduallytook political power from the monarch. Today the majority of the powers which were previously exercised by the monarch are carried out either by or on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Government,making the monarch what is known as a constitutional monarch.

Many people such as life peers, ministers,senior members of the church and judgesare officially appointed by the monarch butit is on the advice of the Prime Minister.The monarch has to give Royal Assent toall bills but this is done as a formality andhas not been refused since 1707. Althoughthe Queen opens each session of parliamentand reads the speech from the throne, ittells us what the Government hope to doin the next year, and has been written bythe Prime Minister. In this way importantdecisions are made by those people whoare elected to represent us.

The Queen is able to provide the Governmentwith the benefit of her knowledge as shedeals with many officials and foreign leaders.She can also offer advice based on pastexperience having so far worked with10 different Prime Ministers.

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The Monarchy

Did you know?

The monarch is not allowed to go into the House ofCommons because MPs havethe right to do their workwithout any interference.


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Test Your Knowledge

See if you can find out the answers to the following questions. If you have access to theinternet you can look on the parliamentary websites.

How much can you remember? You can look back in the booklet to check your answers.

1. How many MPs are there in the House of Commons?

2. How old do you have to be to a) become an MP b) vote

3. What is a party’s weekly timetable of business called?

4. What is the Budget?

5. When does Prime Minister’s question timetake place?

6. What does the House of Lords spendmost of its time doing?

7. In what ways is the House of Lordsdifferent to the House of Commons?

8. Why can the House of Lords stop a bill to extend the life of a Parliament?

9. Who chooses members of theGovernment?

10. What do civil servants do?

What is the name of your constituency? Find out something about your MP.

Find out the names and titles of some of the members of the Cabinet.

What issues are currently being discussed in the House of Commons and the House of Lords?

Did you know?

The Portcullis is the emblem of both Houses of Parliament.


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Did you know?

You can also find out moreabout Parliament on theinternet atwww.explore.parliament.uk

Website

You can find out more about the way in which Parliament works atwww.explore.parliament.uk which isdesigned for young people. Here you canread more about Parliament in the Explore by Theme section or learn more from theExplore by Topic section. You can also testyour knowledge by trying the activities and games in the Explore Zone.

General information about both Houses of Parliament can also be found atwww.parliament.uk where you can also view live webcasts of both the Houseof Commons and the House of Lords.

Television

The proceedings from the Chambers of bothHouses were first broadcast on the radio in1978. Television cameras were not allowedinto the House of Lords until 1985 and intothe House of Commons until 1989.

Sometimes what happens in Parliament is shown on the television news. You canwatch the proceedings of both Houses on the BBC’s Parliament Channel.

Hansard

Newspaper reporters were first given specialseats in the Public Gallery of the House ofCommons in 1803. Today you will often findreports of what was said in both Chambers in the national newspapers.

Everything which is said in the House ofCommons is taken down by a special team of reporters and is printed in Hansard (theOfficial Report) on the following day. Thereis a separate Hansard for the House of Lords.It is named after the family who were thefirst official printers to the House of Commons.Hansard is published on the internet by8.00am the following morning.

Visiting Parliament

You can sit in the public galleries andlisten to what is being said in both Housesof Parliament. There is no charge for this.It is a good idea to book a ticket throughyour MP to make sure that you do not haveto wait for a long time in a queue. Your MPmay also be able to arrange for you to havea tour of the building.

Find Out More


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Who is Your MP?

You live in a constituency so have an MP torepresent your views. You can find out whoyour MP is by asking your teachers, in yourlocal library or at your local council offices.If you know your full postcode and haveaccess to the internet you can find outwhich constituency you live in and who yourMP is from the Constituency Locata serviceat www.locata.co.uk/commons/

Meeting Your MP

You may see your MP in your constituency at events such as summer fairs and carolservices or perhaps visiting your school. Most MPs hold ‘surgeries’, rather like doctors’surgeries, when constituents can go to seethem to ask for help with their problems orto explain their views. If you are in Londonyou can also go into the Central Lobby inthe Houses of Parliament to see your MPwhen the House of Commons is sitting. You do not have to have an appointment but it is a good idea to let your MP knowthat you are coming to Westminster as he or she might have other engagements and meetings so not be able to see you.

How can your MP help?

You may think that your MP is there to solveall of your problems but MPs can usually onlyhelp with those matters for which Parliamentis responsible. Many local problems, such asemptying of dustbins, are a matter for localgovernment so you need to contact yourlocal council.

Contacting Your MP

You can contact your MP in writing at theHouse of Commons, London SW1A 0AA or by telephone on 020 7219 3000. Most MPscan also be e-mailed through the mainParliament website: www.parliament.uk

You can find out more information from:

Parliamentary Education UnitRoom 604Norman Shaw Building (North)London SW1A 2TTTel: 020 7219 2105Fax: 020 7219 0818E-mail: [email protected]

Did you know?

Traditionally people who arenot Members of Parliament are known as ‘strangers’.


Parliamentary Copyright 2004

May be reproduced for the purposes of research for

non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism

review and news reporting. Reproduction for sale

or other purposes not permitted.

Chris Weeds

Education Officer

February 2004

Images on pages 1, 7, 8 and 10: Deryc R. Sands


PUK, Discover Parliament

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Transcript of PUK, Discover Parliament