I work for an MP, AMA

[DemandingandUnreasonable]

It’s not totally like ‘The Thick of It’ but bits of it are not too dissimilar.

Do/would you vote for your employer?

I don’t think I’m being unethical, but your opinion may vary.

This definitely isn’t an attempt to promote the Labour Party. I’m not employed by them and I’m not a member.

I just see a lot of ‘contact your MP’ advice on threads and thought people might have questions about what happens then.

What is your background? Ie what got you the job?
Are you a caseworker or a different role?

Do the MPs' staff always support the party they work for, or are some doing the job as they find the subject matter interesting?

Sorry, missed answering about where I am based. Mostly in the Constituency but down in Parliament once or twice a month.

I would vote for my MP, I wouldn’t work for someone I didn’t think was a decent person.

I’m veggie so no comment on the chicken!

Sometimes it’s just people at the end of their tether, which is still unpleasant but understandable. Sometimes there is no apparent reason, people just randomly ring up and shout at us.

Is this description of MPs accurate?

We have a totally apolitical member of staff who has a background in welfare rights, the rest of us are interested to varying extents.

I think it would be difficult to do the job if you were a big supporter of a different party to the one your MP belonged to.

Thank you for an interesting thread @DemandingandUnreasonable and I'm so sorry to hear about all the abuse.

I was a teacher for a longtime, including teaching politics A Level. I left teaching just as my current job became available and was asked to apply.

I’m not a caseworker but I do help out with some case working when we are very busy.

MP’s offices all use different titles for staff, but my job is mainly to make sure that everything runs smoothly, which means no two days are the same.

I’m currently watching this again myself!

I don’t think it is accurate of all MPs, no. As with all jobs, some people doing it will be excellent, some okay, and some terrible. No real job security though, so if you are terrible you run a real risk of not lasting.

That makes sense. I'm in welfare rights myself and its a job field I've thought about.

I used to have a work colleague whose uncle was an MP. I gather from him the work of an MP was crazy busy and emotionally draining. Impossible to have a life outside.

Would you say the hours are too much for an MP and what they are expected to deal with it too broad and difficult? Is it a job you would do?

It is a very busy and demanding job if you do it right. You definitely need a partner who is onboard with it.

When I was younger I was keen to become an MP but I’ve found my niche behind the scenes and I enjoy that a lot. I think I’m too thin-skinned to step out onto the stage myself. My husband has some political ambitions that I’ll happily support but I’m not sure if he will pursue them or not.

In what ways is it like The Thick of It?

I was going to ask whether MPs are a magnet for butters because invariably if an MP has written to us about one of our clients it will be a grade a nutter, very difficult, and won’t have complied with half of what is expected of them then shouts really load and goes to their MP.

Really interesting. Thanks
Do you or does your MP feel like they are making a difference? Is it important to them and the rest of the team?

Are you friendly with other staff in similar roles/adjoining constituencies?

Do MPs get copy and paste comms from HO to reply to constituents letters/emails? Our Labour MP seems to have 2 or 3 pre-prepared scripts which he sticks to and just amends certain words.
Mind, that's if he replies at all. As far as I can tell from local sites, he only responds to people who agree with him.
We used to have an amazing Labour MP about 15 years ago but this current one is horrendous.

So what if an MP refuses to engage with their constituents, is the best way to get them to engage?

How do MPs get picked for the big jobs (minister of this or that) and does the system create competition between MPs? And who looks after the constituents if their MP has one of the big jobs? I understand you might not have the answers to that.

What are the most common complaints constituents contact your MP about?
Does your local authorities, particularly SEN departments take any notice of your MP?

Some days you are chasing your tail constantly and nothing goes to plan. There is significantly less swearing, however.

We do sometimes get only half a story and when we contact organisations things become a lot clearer.

With regards to casework, we definitely do sometimes make a quite significant difference to a person's life.

I think my MP does make a difference, but things do grind slowly. One announcement will have taken months of meetings and persuasion behind the scenes.

All the political parties have research services which MPs can buy into to help with replies to campaign emails. These are the type of emails which constituents do not personalise at all but which come from organisations like Friends of the Earth etc.

MPs will generally toe the party line so replies will tend to match that. If it is an area where the MP differs or has something particular they want to say, then the reply might be more individual.

In our office, if the constituent has personalised the email then they will get a more personal response. If it's casework they will get a caseworker assigned to them who will follow the case through.

You can't force an MP to respond, but you could perhaps book an appointment at a surgery to speak to them face to face.

I think it is a mix of ability and your face fitting. When the official opposition is as small as it is at the moment, then you have much more chance of getting a shadow job than you do an actual ministerial role when your party is in government with a healthy majority.

Ministers are still constituency MPs, they just can't ask a question in the House. They will still represent constituents concerns, but the bread and butter stuff is usually done by the team anyway.