This article describes a partnership research project carried out by a research team consisting of people with learning disabilities and people without learning disabilities. The research explored people's understandings of advocacy and identified gaps in advocacy provision for people with learning disabilities and their families. Four focus groups were conducted with different stakeholders: people with learning disabilities, family carers, direct support workers and service managers and commissioners. The findings are organised under the following themes: understandings of advocacy, sources of advocacy, need for advocacy, barriers to advocacy and other influences on advocacy.