Hello, my name is Mrs. Harris and I'm the person who's going to be guiding you through today's lesson.

The lesson today is called What do MPs do, and it's part of a larger series of lessons called How does the political system work in the UK? By the end of today's lesson, you're going to be able to say, I can explain what an MP is and describe some of their key roles, responsibilities, and skills.

Some of this learning you might already know, some of it might be completely new, and some of it might be challenging, but together we're gonna work through it and we'll do it together.

Let's start with some keywords.

I'm going to say the keyword and you're going to repeat it back.

Are we ready? Member of Parliament.

Constituency.

Skill.

It's time for our first learning cycle, what roles and responsibilities do MPs have? The United Kingdom is a democracy, and a key part of a democracy is that citizens have the right to have a say in how the country is run and the laws that are made.

And to do this, citizens elect their leaders to represent their views in Parliament.

Aisha is telling us that Parliament is the legislative branch of the UK state, which means it has the authority to make and change laws.

It meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, and there it is on the right.

You might recognise it.

The United Kingdom is split into smaller geographical regions called constituencies, and there are 650 constituencies in the UK.

Every single one has one representative and that is the Member of Parliament or the MP.

Each constituency has roughly the same size electorate, and that's to make sure that the representation is fair and equal.

And remember, the electorate is the name for the group of people who are eligible to vote in elections.

To be eligible, people have got to meet certain criteria, like age criteria, nationality criteria, or even residency criteria.

Let's check that understanding then.

So true or false? The smaller area that an MP represents is called a constituency.

Is that true or false? I shall give you a few seconds to think.

Okay, is it true or false? It is true, yes.

It's called a constituency, and there are 650 of them in the UK.

The area of Parliament MPs work in is called the House of Commons, and there it is on the left of your screen.

However, that's not the only place that an MP will work, because they represent the people in their constituency.

So that means they have to divide their time between being in the House of Commons and being in their own constituency.

When an MP is in Parliament, some of their responsibilities are: attending debates on proposed laws and policies; voting on legislation, so that's making laws and other key issues as well; representing their constituents actually in Parliament by raising the concerns and speaking for them; serving on committees to scrutinise, that's look really closely, positives and negatives of things like bills, policies, and the government actions as well; they ask questions of the Prime Minister and other government ministers, and that's to hold them to account, to hold them responsible for their actions and check what they're doing; and they attend and lead meetings with other MPs from the same party, and that helps them keep up to date with different policies and other key information as well.

When an MP is in their constituency, their responsibilities and their roles are slightly different.

They might hold surgeries.

That's like special meetings with the constituents, with the people who live in the area, and they'll try to help them with personal or community issues.

They might support them with casework, so things like helping individuals resolve different problems. They might point them to certain experts that can help them, and often they'll work with other local leaders or other workers in the area, maybe like charities or community projects as well.

A key part of it is building relationships by going to things like events, visiting businesses, visiting schools, and different community groups so they have a really good understanding of what residents actually need in the area so that they can represent them better when they're in Parliament.

A lot of their job is about communicating with constituents, not just face-to-face, but in things like newsletters and social media as well.

And another important job is to advocate for, so to give their support for or even oppose and say that they're not okay with certain local projects.

So that could be a building project, that could be a development project that they're maybe really for or they're really against.

And another thing they're doing in their constituency is they might be campaigning to be re-elected as well if it's coming up to a general election.

Sophia here is telling us about what her MP does.

"Our MP visits all the schools and colleges in his constituency.

He joins in the lessons and runs sessions for pupils to ask questions and to talk about the things that matter to them.

He is a well-known figure to younger people and they feel like he is on their side." See, already building those relationships, building up that trust, and learning what people in that area really need and what their views are so this MP can represent the people better when he's in Parliament.

Lucas is saying, "Our MP supported a group of people who were wrongfully told by the government that they needed to leave the country.

She worked tirelessly to make sure they received the justice they deserved and that they got to stay in the country they'd lived in in all of their lives." That's an example of doing case work, isn't it? And getting experts involved in fighting those residents' needs and their rights to stay in a country that they've pretty much always lived in.

Quick check for understanding then.

Meeting with constituents and helping them with personal or community issues is an example of, communicating through social media, an MP surgery, or campaigning for re-election? I shall give you a few seconds to think.

Okay then, so meeting with constituents and helping them with personal or community issues is an example of an MP surgery.

Yes, that's when they meet face-to-face with the constituents to support them and to listen to them.

Great job if you got that one.

Now, as well as their Parliament work and as well as their constituency work, some MPs might also have Cabinet role.

That means a role working or as a senior government minister.

These senior government ministers are appointed by the Prime Minister, and part of their role is to lead the government departments.

And when they lead departments, that means they're working out key issues, they're making plans, and they're shaping policies for the whole of the UK.

They meet at least weekly in the Cabinet Room in Whitehall in London, and Whitehall is pictured there on the left of your screen.

If an MP is in a Cabinet role, that means they're a really key decision-maker and they have some really important influence upon the government and how the country runs as a whole.

Some of their roles and responsibilities then, if they're in a Cabinet role, include leading a government department like health or education or defence.

They work with civil servants to make and put in place new policies.

When the Cabinet makes decisions and they have these ideas and policies, it's the civil servants that then put these into place.

So they have to work really closely with the MPs in their Cabinet roles.

They'll attend meetings with the rest of the Cabinet and the Prime Minister and work very closely together.

MPs in a Cabinet role, they represent the government in Parliament and they also represent them in the media, so they'll do a lot of interviews and things like that, and they also represent the government in public view as well.

They'll manage the department's finances, so looking after their money and deciding where it's going.

These MPs are also the people that will take responsibility during national emergencies or crises.

For example, if there was a natural disaster like a flood or if there was a health epidemic, it's these MPs that have to put the plans in place to help the whole of the UK find their way through that.

And remember, this is in addition to their normal Parliament and their constituency roles.

A quick check for understanding then.

So which of these things might an MP do if also on the Cabinet? Might they attend meetings at Whitehall, manage department finances, or represent the government? I shall give you a few seconds to think.

Okay, which of these things might an MP do if also on the Cabinet? The answer is all of them.

All of these are additional duties to their Parliament responsibilities and their constituency duties as well.

Well done.

It's time for Task A, and in this task you are gonna match each MP role to where it is most likely to occur.

So, number one is to represent the government in Parliament, the media, and public; two is hold surgeries to meet with constituents; three, vote on new laws; four, build relationships by going to local events; five, work closely with the Prime Minister; six, take responsibility during national emergency or crisis; seven, represent views of constituents in Parliament; and eight, support with case work.

Where are MPs most likely to do these roles, to do these jobs? All you have to do is take the number of each of those roles and put it under the correct area.

So either it's done in the House of Commons, in the constituency, or as part of their Cabinet role.

So place the numbers under the correct heading.

Pause the video to give yourself the time to do that, and then we'll come back and look at the answers together.

All right, let's check those answers then.

Here we go.

So your answers should look like this.

So the roles that are done in the House of Commons are number three, voting on new laws, and number seven, presenting views of constituents in Parliament, is done in Parliament.

The ones of two, four, and eight, so holding surgeries to meet with constituents, building relationships by going to local events, and supporting with casework, they're all done in the constituency.

And roles number one, five, and six, so representing the government in Parliament, media, and public, working closely with the Prime Minister, and taking responsibility during national emergency or crisis, that would be done as a Cabinet role.

Really good job if you've got all of those in the correct spaces.

It's time for our second learning cycle, what skills do you need to be an MP? To become a Member of Parliament, a person has to be elected by the people in the constituency.

So they have to be chosen by the people who live locally.

They must also be at least 18 years old, a British or Irish citizen or a citizen of a Commonwealth country and allowed to live in the UK.

They're not allowed to work in some occupations.

So you can't be an MP if you are on police, if you are a judge, or if you're in the armed forces.

But there is no legal requirement to live or work in the constituency.

So theoretically, I could live in Blackburn and I could be an MP for a constituency in Cornwall.

However, it's a good idea to have a good local knowledge and to be familiar with that area so that you can have the best relationships and really understand what the residents of that area need.

If they're a member of a political party, the party will approve them as a candidate, or a person might want to be independent in a constituency and not be part of a political party.

Now, MPs are diverse and they come from a huge amount of different backgrounds.

Lots of them have worked in different jobs before becoming an MP.

Some might have always been interested in politics and done it from being very, very young and maybe supporting other MPs or maybe working in local government.

Others of them might be nearing retirement and they might have had a completely different job all the way through their life so far.

Some might have only just finished their education.

The most important thing about being an MP is that they're committed to that constituency and committed to the people that live within it and they have the skills to represent people properly.

A quick check for understanding then.

MPs must be of a certain, age, nationality, or identity? Which of these must an MP be? I shall give you a few seconds to think.

Okay, MPs must be of a certain age and nationality.

Yes, unfortunately, you can't be an MP if you are 11 years old.

You must be 18 or over.

And there are nationality criteria as well that you have to meet.

But as for identity, for race, gender, or disability, that does not matter at all if you want to become an MP.

Just as Sophia here says, is that MPs must meet certain age and nationality or citizenship requirements, but other than that, they can be from any background or have any identity, and they don't have to have lived in the area that they want to represent.

Well done if you got that answer correct.

So here now are some examples of MPs and the work that they did before becoming an MP.

So the first person we're looking at is Alistair Carmichael.

He was elected in 2001 in the Orkney and Shetland constituency.

And Alistair actually grew up on the Shetland Islands.

Before he became an MP, he was a solicitor and he was also a local councillor as well.

Zarah Sultana, she was elected in 2019 and her constituency is the Coventry South constituency.

Zarah worked in retail and campaigning before she became an MP.

She's also been involved in politics since becoming a teenager.

So although she had her paid work, she also had a real interest in politics from a very young age.

Keir Mather was elected in 2023 and his constituency is Selby.

Now, Keir is still one of the youngest MPs, and actually was the youngest MP when he was first elected.

When he was a teenager, he actually set up a Labour group and he was part of the Youth Parliament as well, and he did work for an MP before he was elected.

Sian Berry was elected in 2024 in the Brighton Pavilion constituency.

She was a councillor in Camden in London, and she was the co-leader of the Green Party, the political party.

And her career all the way through is focused on health, the environment, and transport as well.

So as you can see, they're all of different ages and they've all got very different backgrounds, but yet they're all MPs because they want to serve their constituencies as well as they can.

Now, the role of an MP involves juggling many, many roles and responsibilities.

We've already said, haven't we, that they work not only in Parliament, but also in the constituency.

And if they happen to be in a Cabinet role as well, that's an additional set of responsibilities they have.

MPs work with so many different people, from other MPs, local people, community groups, charity workers, and if they're in a Cabinet role, they might even work closely with leaders in other countries as well.

When MPs are working in their constituency, it's very likely that they'll work closely with local government representatives, called councillors.

Aisha's telling us here that councillors are voted in by citizens at local election level.

They represent people in their ward, which is a small geographical area, a little bit like a constituency, but a smaller version of that in a local council district.

And there's often more than one councillor per ward.

So it's not just the MP working with one or two local councillors, but many, many different ones across the whole of a constituency.

So collaboration and problem-solving skills are, I'd say, essential for an MP's role.

You can't be an MP and be unable to work with other people.

That's just not going to work, is it? Check for understanding then.

Can you complete this sentence by adding the correct word? MPs work alongside the local government representatives called what? I shall give you a few seconds to think.

Okay, the local government representatives are called councillors.

Well done if you've got that answer.

We've talked about MPs needing to know what the residents need.

So it's really important for them to be up-to-date with news and issues that might affect people in their constituency.

They often have to speak to newspapers and other media as well, and so being confident with public speaking is also a really important skill for an MP.

Communication in various ways, face-to-face, written communication and so on, again, another really important skill for an MP.

They spend lots of times in debates, in meetings, speaking in Parliament, talking face-to-face with people.

So having that clear and confident communication is really important to represent the views and the needs of people living in their constituency.

And also, if you're speaking to people about their issues and their problems, having empathy and understanding is also an essential skill.

MPs, we've said, juggle lots and lots of roles and responsibilities, so managing their time is an incredibly important thing to be able to do.

Balancing their tasks, doing their jobs effectively all rely on them organising their busy schedules, and they do a lot of travelling as well between their constituency and Parliament, and if they've got a Cabinet role for those responsibilities as well.

And this is probably the most important one, building good relationships, because they just don't work alone, do they? They don't work in isolation.

They're always working with other people.

And being approachable is really important as well.

Residents aren't going to go to their MP if they don't think their MP is going to listen to them or support them.

So being approachable will help them feel welcomed and help them feel listened to.

In addition to all of the practical skills like time management and being good at communicating and writing down, MPs have to have a lot of personal skills as well to carry out their job successfully.

So listening to a constituent's worries requires empathy.

Speaking up for constituents in Parliament requires confidence.

Putting their own opinion across requires assertiveness.

Taking the advice of others requires a person to be open-minded and know that they don't have all of the answers all of the time.

And guiding others requires leadership.

Good time management, they need really good organisation.

So it's not just about what they can do, it's about the skills that they bring as a person as well.

Quick check for understanding then.

So balancing tasks to be able to be an effective MP is an example of good what? Leadership, empathy, or time management, that's balancing tasks.

Take a few seconds to think about it and we will go through the answer together.

Okay, so balancing tasks to be able to be an effective MP is an example of good time management.

It is, isn't it? Knowing when you're doing which task helps you manage it effectively.

As Aisha says here, "MPs often have very busy schedules, including lots of travelling, so time management is a very important skill to have." Well done if you got that one.

It's time for your second task then, Task B.

You are going to design a job description for an MP.

It would be good to think about their duties.

So describe some of the key things that they will actually have to do in the role.

You can think about the knowledge, the skills, and experience that might be required to do those jobs, to do the things.

It's also good to think about which things are essential, so which things you absolutely have to be good at, and which would be useful, maybe not absolutely essential, but would really help with being an MP.

And you're going to put it into the table we have here.

So putting the duties in and then thinking about which knowledge, skills, and experience are essential, and which knowledge, skills, and experience is desired, which would be useful.

Pause the video to give yourself the time to do this, and then we'll come back with some possible answers.

Okay then, right.

Let's have a look at this job description then.

So your answer might look something a little bit like this.

So the duties of a Member of Parliament are representing constituents, attending the House of Commons, making laws, scrutinising the government.

If you're on the Cabinet, that's leading a department and shaping UK policy.

The essential criteria for knowledge could be local constituency.

Yeah, they've got to have a good knowledge of the constituency that they want to work in.

And also it's essential to have an interest in politics.

How can you be an MP if you've got no interest in politics? That doesn't work, does it? The essential skills that you might think an MP needs could be time management, good communication, having empathy, having that ability to listen to people and understand them, and also being a really good problem solver too.

Essential experience could be community or charity work, working with the public, working with other people, because collaboration is one of those things that people need to be really good at to be an MP because they don't just work on their own.

Let's move to the desired criteria then, things that aren't absolutely essential, but would be really useful.

So knowledge, the desired knowledge could be knowing about issues in the UK or global issues, particularly if you work on the Cabinet as well.

That would be a really useful thing to have.

Skills that could be desired might be social media, being able to communicate via that, the use of computers to support your work in Parliament and communicating with constituents and casework and so on, and also debating skills might be really useful to have.

Desired experience could be leadership.

There's no absolute need to be a good leader straight away before you become an MP, but having that experience could be very useful.

Things like public speaking will be a useful skill to have, as well as knowing how to campaign, because remember, MPs get elected, don't they? So having that knowledge of campaigning would be really useful in getting a spot in the first place.

Really good job on that task there.

Had some tricky things to be able to think about whether something is essential or if it is desired.

So really well done on that.

Let's summarise this lesson then, called What does an MP do? An MP is voted in by residents to represent the people in their constituency in Parliament.

Their main duties in Parliament include debating and making laws, scrutinising government actions, and representing constituency views.

Main duties in their constituency include working directly with constituents on local issues and casework, campaigning, building relationships, and communicating with local people.

If on the Cabinet, additional responsibilities include leading a government department and working closely with the Prime Minister to shape UK policy.

Skills that might be useful for MPs to have are time management, collaboration, communication, empathy, and debating amongst others as well.

You've worked really, really hard in this lesson today.

I'm really proud of you.

Well done.