Speaking up for MS at the 2025 political party conferences
We’ve had a busy few weeks speaking to dozens of MPs at the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative Party Conferences. We spoke to them about how they can support people affected by MS in Parliament and their constituencies.
What happens at a party conference?
Party conferences are an important time in the political calendar. They bring MPs and policymakers together to discuss key issues, listen to stakeholders, and set their policy priorities. The conference days are a busy time packed with speeches, panel sessions, meetings, and networking events.
For us, they’re a valuable opportunity to raise awareness of MS and highlight the issues affecting our community. They allow us to speak directly with politicians. And push for the changes needed to improve support for people living with MS.
We raised three key areas that need urgent improvement.
- Access to treatments and care. Everyone with MS deserves timely and high-quality care, no matter where they live. We shared our latest research on MS hospital care that shows where care isn’t joined up. And how we must improve the quality and access to treatments, services, and care.
- Employment support. People with MS should be supported whether they're in or out of work. But we know that some people feel forced to leave work before they want to or keep working even when unwell. The right support helps people with MS to stay and progress in work for longer. We shared recommendations from our recent report on what the government must do to help people to thrive in and out of work.
- Social security. We’re calling for meaningful reform of PIP, particularly through the Timms Review into the PIP assessment. We need it to better reflect the realities of living with MS. We were clear that the fluctuating and invisible symptoms must be a focus of the review. And that PIP should provide reliable and appropriate support when it’s needed most.
What did we get up to?
We hosted our first conference fringe event for many years with Parkinson’s UK and the Neurological Alliance at the Labour Party Conference. We organised a fantastic panel on improving neurological care. And heard directly from experts on what the government must do to deliver for people with neurological conditions like MS.
Beyond our own event, we asked questions about MS and disability at fringe events across the three conferences on key topics. These events covered NHS workforce and care challenges, the future of social care, strengthening employment support, and social security system reform.
At the Labour and Conservative Conferences, we spoke with ministers and shadow ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care. We discussed the importance of preventing avoidable hospital admissions for people with MS.
We also met with Dr Zubir Ahmed MP, the Minister for Health Innovation and Safety. We spoke about the importance of secondary prevention. And followed up by writing to him about improving access to treatments for people with MS.
We also met with the Chair and Officers of the APPG for MS: Oliver Ryan MP, Sean Woodcock MP and Lord Alf Dubs. We talked about what’s coming up for the group next year. And how the APPG will continue to engage with MPs and raise the profile of MS in Parliament.
What’s next?
We know that many members of our community want politicians to understand how unpredictable and different MS can be. These conferences gave us an opportunity to speak to many MPs about how MS impacts people. But the conversations don’t end here. We’ll continue to work with MPs and politicians across the UK to make sure MS is high up on the political agenda.
If you want to keep in touch about this work or get involved with our campaigns, you can join our campaigns community.
