How we support MPs and peers

Are you looking for advice on contacting your MP about mental health? Mind has a guide to help you.

We support MPs and peers to play their role in making sure everyone with a mental health problem is treated fairly, positively and with respect.

Do you want to get in touch with Mind’s Public Affairs team? Email us on [email protected]

How we support MPs and peers

Mind’s Policy and Campaigns team works with MPs and members of the House of Lords from all political parties. We talk to them about the issues that affect people with mental health problems.

We write simple guides on many topics. These include:

Young people’s mental health
Making the benefits system work better for people with mental health problems
Changing the Mental Health Act

We can help with:

Short briefings, real-life stories, and facts for debates, speeches, or questions in Parliament
A booklet with tips for MPs and their teams on how to support people in their area
Visits to local Mind services in your area
Speaking up in Parliament about your own experience with mental health problems

Mind's current campaigns

Find out about the mental health issues Mind is campaigning on and the changes we're calling for. Visit our campaigns page to learn more and see how you can get involved.

Mind's campaigns

MPs and staffers’ guide to mental health

One in four people has a mental health problem each year.

Things like long-term illness, housing issues, money worries or problems with benefits can make mental health worse. These issues can also be harder to cope with if someone is already struggling with their mental health.

MPs and their staff often speak to people who are upset or in distress. This might be during surgery appointments, in emails or on the phone.

Supporting constituents with mental health problems

We’ve worked with Rethink Mental Illness and the Royal College of Psychiatrists to make a guide for MPs and their staff. This is part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Mental Health. The guide gives practical tips on how to support people. It includes:

Information about common mental health problems
Tips for handling difficult phone calls and emails
Where to signpost people for more help

Download the booklet

Tips to help you look after your mental health

At Mind, we’re here to support anyone experiencing problems with their mental health. And we know that politics is a high-pressure working environment that comes with specific challenges.

We've compiled a short guide for everyone working in politics to help you take care of your own mental health. You will find tips and resources to help you:

Manage stress and burnout
Cope with difficult casework
Manage your work-life balance
Cope with abuse and threats
Improve your physical health and sleep
Find support

Read our guide

Our priorities in parliament

Reforming the Mental Health Act

The Mental Health Act is out-of-date and biased.

It allows people to be taken to hospital and treated without agreeing – this is called being 'sectioned'. This usually happens when someone is very unwell, but they often don’t get a say in what happens.

We’re glad the government plans to give people more control over their care. This includes letting someone choose a trusted person to speak up for them and make some decisions if they can’t.

But the government needs to do more. We want them to look again at how Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) are used. These are rules that make people have treatment while living in the community. CTOs don’t stop people going back into hospital and are used more often on Black people, which is unfair.

A comprehensive ban on conversion ‘therapy’

Conversion practices are harmful and can seriously affect people’s mental health. To keep all LGBTQIA+ people safe, we want a full ban on these practices in the UK. The ban must include trans people.

It must also close current gaps in the law. Right now, the law still:

Allows adults to agree to go through conversion practices
Allows these practices to happen in religious or faith-based settings
Does not stop people from trying to hide or change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity

We believe everyone should be protected from this kind of harm.

Improving benefits assessments

The benefits system can help people with mental health problems live more independently and have more control over their lives. But right now, the way benefits are assessed is not working for many people.

We need assessors to have better understanding of mental health. People should also be able to choose how their assessment is done – for example, in person, by phone, or online.

We’re asking the Department for Work and Pensions to set up a new group, led by disabled people, to create a better and fairer assessment system.

Introducing early support hubs for young people

1 in 6 young people have a mental health problem. And too often they can’t get support when they first need it. But the earlier a young person gets support for their mental health, the more effective that support will be.

We’re calling on the UK government to fund a network of early support hubs across England. Hubs offer easy to access mental health support to young people who need it. Anyone aged 11-25 will be able to drop into a service in their local area without an appointment or referral.