A political surgery, constituency surgery, constituency clinic, mobile office or sometimes advice surgery, in

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

politics, is a series of one-to-one meetings that a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP),

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) or other political officeholder may have with their constituents. At a surgery, constituents may raise issues of concern or request assistance in regard to local or national government matters. Often the constituent's issue will be followed up by a

caseworker In social work, a caseworker is not a social worker but is employed by a government agency, nonprofit organization, or another group to take on the cases of individuals and provide them with advocacy, information and solutions. Also, in politic ...

or assistant. Surgery meetings are usually confidential in contrast to

town hall meetings Town hall meetings, also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or ...

, which are open to many people at the same time. One meaning of the word "surgery" in British English is "the time during which a doctor, dentist or vet is available to see patients". The use in politics reflects this meaning. It is up to each MP to decide whether they have any surgeries at all and if so, how many and in what locations. MPs often use local party offices, church halls or rooms in

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

s as the venues, with a number of surgeries possibly being held at different locations around a constituency. Surgeries are traditionally held on Fridays or at weekends when MPs have returned from sittings of parliament in Westminster. Some MPs' surgeries are "appointment only", some "drop-in", and others a mix. An MP with a large constituency will sometimes hold surgeries in a wide range of locations during the summer recess. As an opportunity for the public to meet directly with politicians, surgeries have been noted as a significant security risk. Three MPs have been murdered at surgeries – Robert Bradford in 1981, Jo Cox in 2016 and

David Amess David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

in 2021 – and Stephen Timms and Nigel Jones survived attacks (Jones's assistant

Andrew Pennington Andrew James Pennington (1 February 1960 – 28 January 2000) was a British Liberal Democrat politician and a posthumous recipient of the George Medal in 2001. He was a Gloucestershire County Councillor from 1985 until his death in a stabbing ...

died). Security for MPs during surgeries and in constituency offices was increased after the killing of Cox. In the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

, clinics/surgeries are an even more important source of publicity and contact for Teachtaí Dála (TDs) and other representatives, as under the PR-STV system there are very few truly safe seats. One paper published by Queen's University Belfast's Institute of Irish Studies states The term mobile office has been used in

Australian politics The politics of Australia take place within the framework of a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system under its Constitution, one of the world's oldest, since F ...

and in American politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surgery (politics) Politics of the Republic of Ireland Politics of the United Kingdom

See also

References