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David Laws
Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil
- Entered Parliament on 7 June 2001 — General election
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- Voting record
- Topics of interest
- Most recent appearances
- Numerology
- Register of Members’ Interests
- Expenses
Voting record (from PublicWhip)
How David Laws voted on key issues since 2001:
- Voted moderately against university tuition fees. votes
- Voted for raising England’s undergraduate tuition fee cap to £9,000 per year. votes
- Voted moderately for more EU integration. votes
- Voted strongly against Labour's anti-terrorism laws. votes
- Voted moderately for increasing the rate of VAT. votes
- Voted very strongly against the Iraq war. votes
- Voted very strongly for an investigation into the Iraq war. votes
- Voted moderately against allowing ministers to intervene in inquests. votes
- Voted a mixture of for and against greater autonomy for schools. votes
- Voted strongly against introducing foundation hospitals. votes
- Voted for removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords. votes
- Voted moderately for a wholly elected House of Lords. votes
- Voted strongly for equal gay rights. votes
- Voted moderately against a more proportional system for electing MPs. votes
- Voted a mixture of for and against automatic enrolment in occupational pensions. votes
- Voted moderately for encouraging occupational pensions. votes
- Voted a mixture of for and against a transparent Parliament. votes
- Voted strongly against introducing ID cards. votes
- Voted strongly for the hunting ban. votes
- Voted moderately for laws to stop climate change. votes
- Voted very strongly against a stricter asylum system. votes
- Voted moderately against replacing Trident. votes
- Voted moderately against a smoking ban. votes
Read about how the voting record is decided.
More on well-known issues (from the Guardian) & their full record
- Hardly ever rebels against their party in this parliament.
Topics of interest
Asks most questions about
- Departments: Children, Schools and Families, Treasury, Work and Pensions, Health, Education and Skills
- Subjects (based on headings added by Hansard): Tax Credits, Pensions, Child Support Agency, Parliamentary Questions, Euro
(based on written questions asked by David Laws and answered by departments)
Public Bill Committees (sittings attended)
- Children, Schools and Families Bill Committee (11 out of 12)
- Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill Committee (14 out of 18)
- Education and Skills Bill Committee (18 out of 20)
- Welfare Reform Bill Committee (0 out of 3)
- Pensions Bill Committee (12 out of 12)
- Welfare Reform Bill Committee (2 out of 12)
- Rights of Savers Bill Committee (1 out of 2)
- Child Trust Funds Bill Committee (7 out of 7)
- Finance Bill Committee (14 out of 21)
- Finance Bill Committee (13 out of 16)
- Education Bill Committee (10 out of 20)
Most recent appearances
- Written Answers — Education: Children: Poverty (17 Jun 2013)
“This information is not available. The Department has not made an estimate, for the current year or earlier years, of the number of school children living in poverty in England who are not receiving free school meals.”
- Written Answers — Education: Classroom Assistants (17 Jun 2013)
“It is for schools, as the employers, to decide the most appropriate staffing structure for their school, including how teaching assistants are employed and deployed within that structure in a way that reflects local priorities and the educational needs of the pupils at the school.”
- Written Answers — Education: Free School Meals (17 Jun 2013)
“The Government recognises the benefits of healthy school meals and is committed to continuing to provide free school meals to those pupils who need them most. Our priority is to make sure that the most disadvantaged children are able to get a nutritious free school meal. The move to universal credit means that we need to introduce new free school meal entitlement criteria. This will not...”
More of David Laws's recent appearances
Numerology
Please note that numbers do not measure quality. Also, representatives may do other things not currently covered by this site. (More about this)
- Has spoken in 14 debates in the last year — well below average amongst MPs.
- Has received answers to 6 written questions in the last year — below average amongst MPs.
- Replied within 2 or 3 weeks to a high number of messages sent via WriteToThem.com during 2008, according to constituents.
- Has voted in 66.83% of votes in this Parliament with this affiliation — below average amongst MPs. (From Public Whip)
- People have made 5 annotations on this MP’s speeches — average amongst MPs.
- This MP's speeches, in Hansard, are readable by an average 19–20 year old, going by the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score.
- 131 people are tracking this MP — email me updates on David Laws’s activity.
- Has used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. "she sells seashells") 444 times in debates — above average amongst MPs. (Why is this here?)
Register of Members’ Interests
Register last updated: 7 May 2013. More about the Register
View the history of this MP's entries in the Register
Expenses
Figures in brackets are ranks.Data from parliament.uk (source). Read 2004/05 – 2008/09 and 1st quarter 2009/10 receipts.
| Type | 2008/09 (ranking out of 647) | 2007/08 (ranking out of 645) | 2006/07 (ranking out of 645) | 2005/06 | 2004/05 (ranking out of 659) | 2003/04 (ranking out of 658) | 2002/03 (ranking out of 657) | 2001/02 (ranking out of 657) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staying away from main home | £15,962 (411th) | £19,251 (414th) | £21,065 (344th) | £18,887 | £16,870 (435th) | £13,321 (512th) | £18,459 (396th) | £16,449 (123rd) |
| London costs | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Office running costs | £22,001 (124th) | £21,425 (131st) | £25,795 (79th) | £23,999 | £19,273 (joint 167th with 2 others) | £18,784 (joint 262nd with 1 other) | £18,228 (joint 213th with 2 others) | £20,282 (158th) |
| Staffing costs | £100,397 (147th) | £90,287 (212th) | £81,920 (401st) | £80,068 | £70,378 (321st) | £68,023 (joint 228th with 71 others) | £65,591 (233rd) | £52,721 (107th) |
| Communications Allowance | £10,162 (223rd) | £9,907 (168th) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Members' Travel | £9,822 (207th)1 | £8,012 (joint 296th with 1 other)2 | £6,859 (350th)3 | £7,585 | £13,308 (204th) | £10,929 (289th) | £12,811 (207th) | £7,467 (349th) |
| Members' Staff Travel | £205 (278th) | £124 (362nd) | £230 (joint 313th with 1 other) | £150 | £347 (314th) | £158 (383rd) | £242 (joint 359th with 1 other) | £395 (276th) |
| Members' Spouse Travel | £0 | £0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Members' Family Travel | £0 | £0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Centrally Purchased Stationery | £6,557 (80th) | £987 (227th) | £1,451 (170th) | £1,334 | £1,235 (joint 221st with 1 other) | £2,068 (58th) | £1,835 (107th) | £2,080 (65th) |
| Stationery: Associated Postage Costs | £5,186 (48th) | £8,325 (53rd) | £6,887 | £6,415 (91st) | £13,694 (10th) | N/A | N/A | |
| Centrally Provided Computer Equipment | £1,332 (joint 147th with 2 others) | £1,125 (joint 205th with 11 others) | £0 | £1,945 (joint 204th with 5 others) | £1,945 (joint 199th with 6 others) | £1,945 (joint 196th with 6 others) | £1,945 (joint 186th with 5 others) | |
| Other Costs | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Total | £165,106 (128th) | £156,511 (156th) | £146,770 (141st) | £138,910 | £129,771 (198th) | £128,922 (136th) | £119,111 (191st) | £101,339 (75th) |
1 Regular journeys between home/constituency/Westminster: Mileage £7,550 (11th). Rail £2,207 (335th). Misc £15 (239th). Other: Rail £50 (132nd).
2 Regular journeys between home/constituency/Westminster: Mileage £6,430 (39th). Rail £1,056 (432nd). Other: Rail £526 (42nd).