23 July 2026
Dear resident
It’s been a big month – a time of change and, I think, of promise.
I have received numerous emails praising Sir Keir Starmer’s contribution to our country, and I agree. He made the Labour Party credible again – many Chelsea and Fulham residents told me they were voting Labour for the first time as a result.
From the day he was elected, he responded skilfully to major international challenges, strengthening our country abroad. At home, he did the painstaking work of laying the foundations for change.
He was less effective at communication: at showing the light at the end of the tunnel. I am hopeful that Andy Burnham will do that.
His message of hope outside Downing Street impressed me, and his focus on the cost of living and growth in every postcode is the right one. He brings a record of practical change on the ground, and extensive experience in government as a Home Office minister, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Culture Secretary and finally Health Secretary.
As I did with Prime Minister Starmer, I will keep doing all I can to support Prime Minister Burnham to take the right decisions for Chelsea and Fulham and the country.
It is now two years since Chelsea and Fulham residents hired me to do a job for them as their MP, and I feel honoured to have helped the more than 4,000 of you who have asked for my support.
This month, I’ve kept working for you on issues from housing to community safety, and have made progress nationally on matters you’ve raised with me – improving maternity care, tackling unhealthy food and questioning the effectiveness of Palantir’s NHS contract.
Finally, let me congratulate my neighbouring MP Andy Slaughter on being appointed Solicitor General.
It’s been a joy to see so many of you at socials across the constituency recently. I hope you have a wonderful summer.
Best wishes
Ben
On 9 July I joined my constituent Louise Thompson at Downing Street to hand in a 167,000-signature petition for a Maternity Commissioner. Louise began campaigning after her own traumatic experience of maternity care – and I’ve backed her. Now the government has promised to create the role.
It can’t come soon enough. Report after report has exposed the state of NHS maternity care. Last month Donna Ockenden published a damning inquiry into Nottingham University Hospitals. Days later Baroness Amos found the system no longer consistently delivers safe, compassionate care.
Both echo last year’s Black maternal health report by the Health and Social Care Committee, on which I sit – women not listened to, weak leadership, racism and understaffing.
At the Committee on 15 July, I pressed on when the Commissioner would be appointed. Amos said this depended on amending the Health Bill. Ockenden urged speed: “Time is not on our side”.
Louise’s determination helped get us here. I’ll keep working with her to make sure the government delivers.
Residents and I have been pressing for a camera at the corner of Clancarty and Peterborough Roads – and at my Crime and Community Safety meeting in Fulham this month this was confirmed for installation by the end of July.
Inspector Rob Goodwin, newly in post, and H&F Council’s head of community safety engaged openly on anti-social behaviour, burglary and drug dealing. Officers have stepped up visits to shops on Wandsworth Bridge Road as part of more visible neighbourhood patrols.
I meet the superintendents for Fulham and Chelsea regularly to raise the issues you bring me. For updates from your local team, sign up to Met Engage – and do get in touch if I can help.
Social housing residents are ignored in all sorts of ways, and sadly, it too often takes an MP to get them a hearing. That’s why I’m holding meetings with residents and landlords on estates across Chelsea and Fulham, not just once but repeatedly to chase improvements.
Take Dexter Court on Fulham’s Dairy Close estate, where after years of antisocial behaviour caused by a broken front door, we’ve got a brand new secure entrance – the first thing residents asked for when we met landlord L&Q in March. But the work isn’t stopping there. At our latest meeting, residents pressed on heating failures and other concerns. L&Q now seems determined to put things right and I’ll keep on their case.
The same story in West Kensington, where residents at Kelway House may finally be seeing change after years of poor service. At our meeting this month, Guinness set out the major changes they have made and will be making since I first called everyone together. Working with residents, I’ll see this through.
In my two years as your MP, I have helped over 4,000 residents, many more than once – over 5,600 cases in all.
Throughout, my aim has been to get you a hearing – taking up your case with the organisations that hold sway over your life, from social housing landlords to the Home Office and HMRC.
More than 40% of the issues you raise concern housing. That’s why I’ve held 24 meetings on local estates, sitting down with residents and landlords to get problems fixed. That includes with managing agents on private estates.
I’ve run a further four public meetings on crime and antisocial behaviour, working with residents and the police to make streets safer.
There have been many smaller meetings, too – with residents and TfL on local traffic and step-free access at Putney Bridge tube, and supporting Chelsea shopkeepers against steep rent rises.
Whoever needs to listen, my job is to make sure you are heard and get a good result.
I couldn’t do any of this without my talented, determined team past and present. I’d like to thank them all – Amy, Hannah, Jasper, Lucy, Nicole, Nikos, Sam and Thomasin. Here are some recent examples of the results we’ve secured for you together.
Money problems
We helped one disabled constituent recover £37,000 in backdated benefits after taking up their case with the DWP. When the Ministry of Defence delayed a resident’s military pension, we secured an apology and compensation. And we negotiated an affordable repayment plan for a resident struggling with energy bills.
Housing wins
A terminally ill resident couldn’t leave hospital until we intervened with Kensington & Chelsea Council to secure suitable housing. Elsewhere, we pushed a housing association to fix a disabled resident’s kitchen and pay £2,200 in compensation. We also got a lift repaired at Biddesden House and helped a key worker secure a more affordable tenancy.
Local improvements
Following resident concerns, we worked with Hammersmith & Fulham Council to get new bike storage on the Clem Attlee Estate, a yellow box junction on Wandsworth Bridge Road, and upgrades to the play area in William Parnell Park.
If I can help you, please get in touch at ben.coleman.mp@parliament.uk.
I’ve been asking a lot of questions about Palantir recently. NHS England is deciding whether to extend its “Federated Data Platform” contract, worth at least £330m, beyond next March. The problem is nobody can say for certain whether it’s delivering.
Two parliamentary committees, including my own, have urged the government to scrap the deal. On the Health and Social Care Committee, we cited public mistrust, contested evidence of benefits and better alternatives.
The challenging evidence is growing. Reporting suggests that adoption is patchy and performance sluggish, with the improvements credited to Palantir coming from just a handful of hospitals. And NHS England now admits its own data can’t show cause and effect, while the statistics regulator has called it out for presenting the FDP’s impact as proven when it isn’t.
I urged NHSE chief executive Jim Mackey to do an independent audit before any renewal. He agreed one would be “helpful and necessary” but doubted it could be done in time. Surely the facts should come first on a contract this size?
Pressure does work. After I raised her potential conflict of interest at the committee, the Department of Health’s Permanent Secretary recused herself from the decision on Palantir’s contract.
And is Palantir irreplaceable? Computer Weekly reports every component could be supplied by UK and European firms. There’s a further irony: the government says AI is a national security sector where British suppliers should be favoured – yet that guidance doesn’t apply to the NHS.
I’ll keep pressing – for an independent audit of Palantir’s effectiveness, and for a sovereign approach to NHS data and AI.
Two-thirds of adults in England are living with obesity or excess weight – but blaming them is wrong, given that healthy food is more expensive and harder to find, and we’re surrounded by relentless promotion of unhealthy food. That’s the starting point of a report on food published this month by the Health and Social Care Committee, on which I sit.
Supermarkets and fast food delivery companies show enormous imagination and resource in promoting cheap, additive-filled food. We’d like to see them putting the same effort into affordable, healthy food.
Here’s what we say needs to change:
I’ll be pushing for action here.
Ten years on from the referendum, residents in Chelsea and Fulham tell me they want our country to chart a new, closer future with the EU. I’m playing my part.
Speaking alongside Mika Aaltola MEP and Bundestag MP Johannes Volkmann this month at a panel on UK-EU relations, I argued that closer cooperation with the EU and NATO was essential to our security and our prosperity. The challenges we face, from Ukraine to China, are shared ones.
At the same, time, the EU is acting to protect its single market, which could mean yet more trade barriers. All the more reason for us to be at the table, building on the progress already made.
When the postponed EU-UK summit is rescheduled, I expect it to close deals to ease trade in food and drink, create opportunities for young people and link our energy emissions trading schemes. A good agreement will strengthen trust – and lay the foundation for greater ambition. I’m glad that Andy Burnham has committed to building on progress already made.
I’m meeting policymakers from across Europe to help build a fresh partnership that works for us all – most recently deepening ties with German colleagues at this year’s Königswinter Anglo-German conference in Manchester.
Turning down the volume on fireworks
Many constituents have written to me about the harm fireworks cause harm to communities, pets and vulnerable people. So the government is consulting this summer on new legislation to restrict the noisiest products to professional displays, ban more high-risk fireworks, and review the rules for “lower risk” products. Share your views here.
Last orders for kids’ energy drinks
Around 100,000 children in England drink high-caffeine energy drinks every day, harming their health, mood and education. That’s why we’re banning their sale to under-16s from April 2027, alongside our action on junk food marketing, vape advertising to children, and school food standards.
A heel-prick test that could save more lives
No parent should watch their child lose the ability to move or breathe, knowing earlier treatment could have helped. So we’re expanding testing for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. From October, checks will be added to the newborn heel-prick test, to help build evidence for a national screening programme.
Fairer rules for unmarried couples
Over 3.5 million couples in the UK live together but aren’t married – and the law hasn’t kept up, leaving many, including women, children and abuse survivors, without proper protection when relationships end. Now we’re consulting on clearer divorce laws, new rights for unmarried couples who separate, and fairer rules for when a partner dies without a will.
For those looking to make a difference where they live, here are three local charities well worth your support.
From the streets to stability
Andy Burnham’s first pledge as Prime Minister is to end rough sleeping. Here in Chelsea and Fulham, Glass Door is supporting record numbers of people facing homelessness to build a route out. Help them reach even more people this summer – donate to their appeal here:
Why Jimmy volunteers
Every three minutes, someone in the UK dies from cardiovascular disease. It’s why Jimmy, doing work experience in my office from the Fulham Boys School, volunteers at the British Heart Foundation shop on North End Road – helping fund the research that saves lives. You can help, too – donate below, or bring donations to the shop at 338 North End Road.
No family should struggle alone
Families can face stress and difficulty. West London Action for Children offers free, confidential counselling for children, parents and families across Fulham and Chelsea to help them through it. Help keep this support free for families who need it – donate here:
