16th October 2024 12:40 pm
The Working for an MP website is a resource for anyone working for a British Member of Parliament or with an interest in how Parliament works. You can read about the site’s history, or get in touch with suggestions or feedback, or find out about the help and advice available to staff from the House of Commons, including the IGCS Behaviour Code. It is also home to the UK’s largest listing of political jobs, at w4mpjobs.
Latest News
Presentation and Q&A: Data protection – hear from the experts
Time: 10:30 – 12:00Date: Tuesday 22 October 2024Location: House of CommonsThis is in-person training, and booking is required. You can see more information here: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/events/2024/october/presentation-and-qa-data-protection–hear-from-the-experts/ As controllers of personal data under data protection law, Members of Parliament have certain obligations. This session will cover these obligations and how to comply with them, including how to…
Ordering wreaths for Armistice Day or Remembrance Sunday
If you would like to order a wreath for Armistice Day or Remembrance Sunday, you can do so by contacting the Royal British Legion directly: https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/ways-to-give/shop/wreaths They are able to provide a portcullis badge for the centre of the wreath, but you will need to request this at the time you order the wreath, and…
VOTE OFFICE TRAINING THIS WEEK
Please note that this training is only available to people with a parliamentary network account. Introduction to the Vote Office (talk & Q&A, 30 min) Information on the Vote Office’s full range of services, including parliamentary and government papers available from their offices as well as their digital services. In-person Sessions for Members and Estate-based Members’…
Where to find lists of MPs and Peers
One question we are asked frequently is where can people download lists of contact details for MPs and Peers. There is a publicly-available list of MPs and their basic contact details on the UK Parliament website here: https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/freedom-of-information/information-we-already-publish/house-of-commons-publication-scheme/members-and-members-staff/parliamentary-contact-details-for-mps/ This list is updated every three months. It is also possible to view and download up-to-date comprehensive…
Select Committee training session
Are you going to be supporting a Member serving on a select committee? Or, do you simply want to understand more about how select committees work? The Select Committee Team is offering training for Members’ staff on ‘how to support your Member with select committee work’. This is a virtual event, which will be held…
Find out about w4mp
w4mp and ParliNet
ParliNet, available to those with a parliamentary login, contains everything you need to stay connected to the parliamentary community. Use it to find information like catering menus, events, contact numbers, and the latest news. If you find any links on w4mp to the old intranet, please let us know.
To access the hotlines on Parlinet you can follow this direct link. To search the document use the SharePoint search box by typing CTRL-F / CMD-F.
Setting up Your Office
Between June 2023 to June 2024 a cross-party group of civic technologists worked together to create the MP Office Manual. They are all keen to see MPs with well run offices contributing to a flourishing democracy in the UK.
You can read it at mpofficemanual.uk. Please note that this is hosted on Google Docs and is an external site, not affiliated with w4mp. Please be careful to check any links etc. from the site as they will be to third party sites.
The proposals in the manual come from in-depth interviews with current and former MPs office staff, and expert advice from over thirty practitioners, allied with a survey of staff members and a review of current literature including all past guides and examples found on w4mp, Hansard Society, and Parliament.
Follow us @w4mpsite on X/Twitter or find us on Facebook
Read a welcome to the site from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons
Please see our Covid-19 page for details of support available to staff.
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Are you OK?
Are you OK? How are you coping? Do you need to talk to someone?
An MP’s office can be a busy and stressful environment at the best of times, and over the past few weeks, staff have been under a lot of extra pressure.
The work we do can put a strain on our mental health and wellbeing, and we can often feel isolated. If you are finding it difficult to cope, or just need someone to talk to, or somewhere to offload, please remember that help is available.
The Wellness Working Group offers lots of useful information advice and you can access their hub here: https://hopuk.sharepoint.com/sites/hct-wellbeinghub
Please ring the helpline and talk to someone. It’s what it’s there for.
Health Assured provides an independent support service to MPs’ staff, it is completely confidential, free and can be accessed 24/7 by phone, online portal and app. You can access support for any issue you are struggling with, it doesn’t have to be work related. Look here for further information, their helpline number and a link to access the service: https://hopuk.sharepoint.com/sites/hct-wellbeinghub/SitePages/What-suport-is-there-.aspx
Archived guides can be found on the w4mp archive. They should not be relied on as expressions of current practice.
Our humourous alt.guides can be found on alt.w4mp.org, along with an archive of Hoby cartoons.
“The MPs’ assistants and researchers walk at twice the pace of everyone else and their eyes burn twice as fiercely” John Crace, The Guardian, 14 May 2015
Header image cropped from Wikimedia Commons image by user:Colin CC BY-SA-4.0
