As the elected Member of Parliament for Surrey Heath, my main job is to represent my constituents to the very best of my ability.

Sometimes that means writing to a Government department to help unblock a long-delayed visa application, or working with Surrey County Council to chase missing education, health and care plans for children with special educational needs.

In moments like these, the two letters after my name – MP – really can make a difference. But representation goes beyond individual casework. It also happens in the House of Commons, where I am based from Monday to Thursday.

As I mentioned in my previous column, my work in Westminster often starts with emails from constituents raising serious and pressing concerns.

Sometimes, the most effective way to tackle an issue is to raise it directly in Parliament, where it will always prompt a response from the Government – even if the quality or substance of that response is up for debate.

As with most things in politics, though, it’s rarely that simple.

I’m often asked by constituents, whether in my inbox or at surgeries, “Can’t you just ask Keir Starmer?”

Believe me, I wish it were that straightforward.

Unfortunately, if every MP could ask the Prime Minister a question whenever they wanted, Prime Minister’s Questions at midday on a Wednesday wouldn’t last an hour – it would probably go on for days. So who decides who gets to speak?

The answer is a mix of luck and the judgment of the impartial Speaker. At the start of each week, my team logs on to an internal system called Member Hub, where they can submit my name to speak during that week’s departmental question sessions.

These rotate between departments, although PMQs always stay in the same weekly slot. Once a broad question is submitted, it goes into a ballot – essentially a raffle.

On average, around 20 MPs are selected for each question time, which takes place once a day. Those chosen are guaranteed a question, with the chance to follow it up with a longer or more detailed point.

MPs who aren’t selected can still try their luck by “bobbing” in the chamber – the slightly unglamorous act of repeatedly standing up and sitting down after each question, hoping to catch the Speaker’s eye.

If you’re spotted, and the Speaker is feeling generous, you may get the chance to speak. I’ve never once been picked in the PMQs ballot, but I did manage to ask the Prime Minister a question last year by bobbing.

The same applies to questions for Secretaries of State. I’ve raised numerous questions to different Secretaries of State, all stemming directly from constituency casework.

One powerful example was when I urged the Foreign Office to change its foreign travel advice to include warnings about carbon monoxide poisoning, following the tragic death of a young constituent while he was travelling in Ecuador.

That journey – from the first surgery meeting with his family, to submitting for the ballot week after week, to finally being selected and hearing a Minister acknowledge the issue and agree to make a change – is one of the most rewarding parts of the job.

In this case, the advice was changed, making it one of the most successful campaigns of my parliamentary career.

Some may say the system is outdated, some may say it is slow, others argue it’s the fairest way to ensure impartiality.

But while Parliament can sometimes feel like a lottery, as I have witnessed first hand, it does deliver real change.