There are different ways you can tell your MP that you care about mental health. You could:
- Send them an email
- Invite them to an event you’re organising
- Arrange a meeting
However you choose to engage with your MP, you can find all the info you need on this page. It covers:
What can your MP do?
It’s your MP’s job to represent the views of their constituents in parliament and to hold the government to account on your behalf. They can put pressure on the government in many ways, for example by:
- Asking questions in parliament
- Speaking out in debates
- Proposing changes to bills
Your MP can also speak to your local service providers if appropriate.
By talking to our MPs, we can have our voices heard and push for positive changes to policy and legislation.
Finding your MP
You can find out who your MP is by searching your postcode on the parliament website.
Each MP’s page should contain an address, email address and contact number for their office. For local issues, it’s best to contact the constituency office if there’s one listed.
If you have any issues finding your MP, email us on [email protected] and we can help.
What should I talk about?
Your MP is there to represent you. They’ll want to hear about your experiences, the challenges you face and the changes you’d like to see.
If you have your own experience of living with mental health problems, we’d encourage you to start by sharing those, if you feel comfortable doing so. You can then link this to the campaign issues that are important to you.
Maybe you don’t have your own personal experience of mental health problems, or you’d prefer not to share this with your MP. If so, you could talk about the challenges that people close to you or people in your community are facing. Just make sure to tell your MP why this campaign is so important to you.
If you want more information on our work, head to our campaigns pages. And if you’ve got any questions or need more, just get in touch with us on [email protected].
At Mind, we also reach out to MPs directly about our campaigns. And we know that our message is often much better received if they have heard the same thing from their constituents. By talking to your MP, you’re helping us get our campaigns on the political agenda and secure changes for all of us with mental health problems.
- Ollie, Senior Public Affairs and Campaigns Officer
Different ways to engage with your MP
Emailing your MP
When MPs get an email from a constituent about an issue, it makes them more likely to take action. And if they get lots of emails on the same topic from different constituents, they’ll know that something is important to the people they represent.
How to get your MP’s email address
Search for your postcode on the parliament website to look up your MP. You should find their email address on the ‘Contact information’ tab.
If you're struggling to find contact details for your MP, let us know on [email protected]
What to write
You’re not expected to be an expert on mental health.
As you write, remember:
- Your MP might not know much about the issue, so explain clearly what the problems are.
- Be clear about what you're asking your MP to do about the issue.
- Everyone is human, so keep it polite. Your MP is much less likely to respond to rude emails.
If you want more information on our work to help you write your email, head to our campaigns pages. And if you’ve got any questions or need more, just get in touch with us on [email protected].
You can also sign up to be a Mind campaigner. You’ll then receive regular emails from us, including actions where we ask you to email your MP about a certain issue.
Personal stories are powerful
Your MP is there to represent you and should want to make sure your voice is being heard. So it’s important for them to understand why an issue is important to you.
Think about the effect the issue is having on you and the changes that you’d like to see. This will help your MP know why they need to take action.
Inviting your MP to your event
Inviting your MP to an event you’re organising gives them a great opportunity to see what you’re doing and meet their constituents. It will help you build a relationship with your MP.
Having an MP attend will also help boost the profile of your event. It could make the press more likely to come. Afterwards, your MP could share the event on social media or speak about it in Parliament.
How to invite your MP
You can find your local MP and their contact details on the parliament website.
If you’re running an event through an organisation, check if they already have a relationship with your MP. If your activity covers more than 1 constituency, remember to invite all relevant MPs.
MPs’ diaries are often very busy. The best thing to do is to send an initial invitation about a month before and then follow up a week before with a contact number for the day.
There are a few key things to make sure you include when inviting your MP:
- The date, time, and location of your event
- Does the MP need to attend the whole event or can they drop in?
- What will happen on the day?
- Who will the MP meet?
- Will the MP be expected to say anything?
- Will there be press there?
Your MP will be more likely to come if you:
- Include them in the activity happening on the day by giving them a role or asking them to speak
- Tell them who they’ll meet – MPs value the opportunity to meet with their constituents. Make it clear that they won’t just be meeting with staff
- Invite the press – It’s great for an MP to be able to promote when they’ve done something locally, so if you’re inviting the media, tell the MP!
Once you have invited your MP, it would be great if you could email us at [email protected] and let us know.
On the day
- Have someone assigned to meet and chaperone the MP.
- Make sure you know who will be talking to the MP, and what you want to say. Be prepared to speak about what you’re doing and answer questions.
- Be polite.
- Take a picture with your MP to share on social media. You can also send it to your local paper with some information about the event.
After the event
- Follow up with an email to say thank you.
- Let us know how it went!
Meeting with your MP
Meeting with your MP is a really powerful way of having your voice heard and getting your MP to pay attention to what you care about.
How to arrange a meeting with your MP
Call or email the local constituency office to ask for a time to meet with your MP. They may suggest booking an appointment at a specific time, or they may encourage you to come along to the MP’s next constituency surgery (meeting). MPs are usually in their constituencies on Fridays, and many will have a drop-in session to meet with constituents then.
Looking after your wellbeing
Meeting with your MP can feel a bit daunting, so take some notes in with you to help you focus on what you want to say.
If you’re feeling unwell, you might want to consider if you still want to meet your MP, or how you can make the situation more comfortable for yourself:
- If you don’t feel comfortable in a crowded area or public space, you can ask your MP to meet in a quiet room. This will need to be arranged beforehand, so you’ll need to ask your MP’s office whether it is possible to meet in a quiet space.
- If you think you’ll need support during the meeting, you could take a friend or relative with you.
- If you’re feeling overwhelmed or upset, you can always ask to take a break. If you feel like you’re unable to continue, you can always leave the meeting and ask to rearrange it with your MP. Your MP will understand. The most important thing is to look after your wellbeing.
Mental health can fluctuate and on the day itself you might not feel up to going to the meeting. If that’s the case that’s ok - your MP will understand if you need to cancel or rearrange. You’d just need to contact the MP’s office to let them know.
After your meeting
If you and your MP feel comfortable doing so, take a picture with them and post it on social media. To share the message with even more people in your local area, you could also send the picture to your local paper with some information about the campaign.
Follow up with an email to say thank you and remind your MP about any actions you agreed on at your meeting.
Remind yourself that you have done something amazing. You’ve used your voice to highlight an issue to your MP.
Top tips for engaging with your MP
MPs really value hearing about the issues their constituents care about. Here are some tips to keep in mind, however you choose to engage with your MP:
Manage your expectations
MPs are extremely busy so you may not hear back quickly or be able to meet them straight away. Be patient and persistent. If you do not hear from them, email or phone their office again.
Remember that everyone is human
Try not to be daunted by who you’re talking to. MPs genuinely want to hear from you.
Be prepared
You can find out a bit more about your MP by looking at their profile on TheyWorkForYou. This can help you find out where they stand on the issue, and what they care about.
Make it personal
Share your experience or the experiences of those close to you so your MP understands why this issue is important to you.
Don’t assume that your MP will know about the issue
Your MP may not know very much about mental health so make sure you clearly explain what the problems are.
Be clear about what you're asking
Give your MP an action for them to take your issue forward. We’ll provide some suggestions on what you can do if you contact us at [email protected].
Use the power of 3
It can help to think about the 3 most important messages that you want to get across.
Tell us about it
It’s helpful for us to know what MPs across the country think about our work. Please send us your MP’s response or tell us how your meeting went by emailing [email protected]
I got to speak to an MP and he was open to talking to me about mental health. That was great, because it made me realise we could really be part of a change.
- Ebony, Mind campaigner
Taking care of yourself when campaigning
Your safety and wellbeing is the most important thing when campaigning. These tips can help:
If you have your own lived experience of mental health problems, think about what you’re comfortable telling your MP
Which parts of your story are you prepared to share, and which might be too painful to talk about? If you’re unsure about what to share, think about how you would manage if someone reacted badly to personal information you shared.
Remember that you don’t have to be an expert
Your MP wants to hear about your experiences because you’re their constituent. Just make sure you’re clear about what you’re asking your MP to do.
Remember, you don’t have to share your story
Your MP might ask if they can share your story in parliament. This could help raise the profile of an issue, but you don’t have to agree to this. If you’re not comfortable with this, you can say no, or you can ask them to share your story without your name. You can also ask if you can take some time to think about this and email them later.
