Voting in Parliament
My voting record
According to Theyworkforyou.com, overall since the last General Election
I have participated in 74% of all divisions. This places me at 221st out
of all MPs.
| Year |
Participation
rate |
Rank
(out of 654) |
1997/98 |
66% |
341st |
1998/99 |
62% * |
n/k |
1999/00 |
75% |
175th |
2000/01 |
61% |
339th |
2001/02 |
76% |
n/k |
2002/03 |
78% |
n/k |
2003/04 |
70% |
n/k |
* My 2nd Annual Report for 1999 gives a figure of nearly 64% because of a slight difference in counting period. My report was written before the end of the parliamentary session.
MPs' participation in Commons Divisions
Extract from the Guidance notes issued by the House of Commons Library
"Participation rates can be affected by a number of factors. These may include:
- abstentions. There is
no provision in the House of Commons for a formal
abstention, so a Member wishing to vote neither
for nor against a motion is simply recorded as
not voting.
- Parties may decide to
have a whipped abstention on certain
divisions
- ministerial or
opposition front-bench duties
- visits abroad as part
of a Parliamentary or Committee delegation
- constituency business
- party duties
- pairing: MPs who are
‘paired’ have agreed with their pair
not to vote even if present
- personal
circumstances: illness, bereavements, maternity
etc
- MPs in certain posts
do not usually vote, for example, the Speaker and
deputy speakers
When using data in this
paper, it should be remembered that MPs are subject to
the whipping system. This identifies those divisions at
which the party believes attendance is mandatory.
The parties therefore
regard some divisions as less important, and attendance
at them tends to be lower. The categorisation of
divisions in this way is not made public."
Sources of data
All the figures on this
page have been supplied by the House of Commons Library.
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