As I’m sure many people will have heard, The Right Honourable George Galloway MP has accepted a place as a contestant on the Channel 4 show, Celebrity Big Brother. A lot of people are angry about this, and rightly so. There is now a web page estimating how much Galloway’s time in the Big Brother house has cost the tax payer, based on his salary and how long he has not been at work doing what he is paid to - representing his constituents in Parliament and addressing their concerns on a local and national level.

If you’re a constituent of Bethnal Green and Bow and are feeling disappointed with your MP’s lack of effort in representing you, feel free to send him a message via the UK Parliament web site or write to him at the following address:

George Galloway MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Remember, Galloway only won his seat by a majority of 823 votes, so a couple of hundred emails and letters from angry constituents should be enough to make him buck up his ideas and get back to doing the job he is being paid for.

If you’re not one of his constituents then you shouldn’t write to Galloway directly, as MPs aren’t obliged to respond to people outside of their constituency.1 You can, however, write to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and ask him to investigate whether or not Galloway is breaking the Code of Conduct for MPs by appearing on Big Brother, specifically the part where it is stated that:

Members have a general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole; and a special duty to their constituents.

There is also a pledge that you can sign to indicate that you will be taking this course of action and which encourages other people to do so as well.

Further reading

  1. Many MPs will refuse to meet with lobby groups unless at least one member is a constituent - I’ve come across this issue when campaigning for Manchester MPs to sign a climate change EDM with Manchester Friends of the Earth ↩