Data sourced from the UK Parliament's API: https://developer.parliament.uk/

Created using Python and matplotlib.

Posted by M4ttT10

25 comments

  1. i’ve known skivers who’ve shown up more than reform does

  2. To be fair, Reform’s leader’s second job is to be MP for Clacton.

  3. Great visual/story! Simple and powerful.

    My only comment is that the font feels a little off for the heading and date. It lets it down a little. I am nitpicking

  4. Attendance is not the only way the Lib Dems are sliding

  5. They should all be fined if they are below 90% ALL OF THEM.

  6. Nigel has visited America more times than his own constituency.

  7. Donut charts aren’t really great for visual comparisons like this.

  8. A reminder that MPs serve their constituents in a variety of ways that are not sitting in the Commons Chamber such as preparing for debates they’ll actually contribute to, preparing for committee work, spending time in their constituency (surgeries, etc.), meeting ministers and stakeholders, answering correspondence.

    “MP attendance” is a poor metric and I wish it would die. And no, I don’t work for any MP, and I’m not a member of any political party trying to defend anyone’s low score here.

  9. Does this only count days when parliament sits(i.e. mon-thur)?

  10. Reform’s logo with an arrow pointing towards the far right…

  11. Mp’s are the only workers in the country who showing up to their jobs is optional. And they are paid by the truck load!

  12. This is a very noticeable trend for most of the far-right parties in the EU.

  13. Now show this to the Reform voters and see them make allowances for why dear Uncle Nige is challenging the status quo.

  14. I don’t mean this as a defence of Reform but not all votes are that important. If you know you’re going to win/lose the vote anyway then it just isn’t that important to vote. You can definitely have better ways to spend your time that further your aims.

  15. Honestly surprised Reform’s percentage is as high as it is. Back when he was an MEP, Farage was infamous for having the second-worst vote attendance record of any active MEP (out of 746 MEPs total). The only one with a worse record was Irish MEP Brian Crowley, who was too ill to travel to Brussels and spent much of his spell as an MEP from 2014-19 in a hospital in Ireland, and as such had never cast a single vote.

  17. I have to say, I think you should switch Labour and the Green Party – this makes it look like Green has a higher attendance than Labour.

    Either that, or make it alphabetical.

  19. You say “in the UK”, but you’ve only included parties who have MPs in English constituencies. Why miss out non-English parties, even when they have more MPs than some of those you included? Just English arrogance, or some proper reason?

  20. This means very little and is pretty misleading. As you would expect, the governing party makes much more of an effort to ensure its business gets voted for by its own MPs, and opposition parties do not emphasise attendance at minor votes they can’t win.

    The main unusual thing here is that the Greens appear to be making ineffective use of their time – they would be better off focussing on committee work or constituency business rather than running for the chamber every time a division is called. This shows the importance of a good whip to tell MPs when it is worth voting and when its too minor or procedural to attend. The very low attendance rate for Reform does stand out, but the current government has a large majority and its very unlikely that 5 votes will ever make the difference. The majority of an MP’s work in Westminster involves doing things other than voting in divisions.

    Perhaps some people think MPs should vote as much as they can as a point of principle, but such commitment to principle means ignoring meetings with constituents and broader things that actually make a difference to people’s lives, just because they want to tick a box. That is not how politics should work – politicians should focus on practical results, not empty gestures like voting in every single division.

  21. If your vote is unlikely to make a difference, you’re less likely to make it.

  24. Out of curiosity, what was it like in the previous parliament? I’d expect the ruling party to have a higher attendance than average to ensure their bills pass.

  25. That’s pretty good for Reform given how many times Farage could be bothered to attend the European parliament when he was an MEP. The percentage of how many times he has visited his constituency is probably very low as well.

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