This data was produced by TheyWorkForYou from a variety of sources.
David Laws
Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil
- Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (since 8 Jan 2009)
- Entered Parliament on 7 June 2001 — General election
- Majority: 8,562 votes. — 338th out of 643 MPs.
- Send a message to your MP (via WriteToThem.com)
- Sign up to HearFromYourMP to get messages from your MP
- Email me whenever David Laws speaks (no more than once per day)
- Help us add video by matching a speech by David Laws
- Voting record
- Committees and 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 a mixture of for and against a transparent Parliament. votes, speeches
- Voted moderately against introducing a smoking ban. votes, speeches
- Voted strongly against introducing ID cards. votes, speeches
- Voted strongly against introducing foundation hospitals. votes, speeches
- Voted strongly against introducing student top-up fees. votes, speeches
- Voted strongly against Labour's anti-terrorism laws. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly against the Iraq war. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly for an investigation into the Iraq war. votes, speeches
- Voted very strongly against replacing Trident. votes, speeches
- Voted strongly for the hunting ban. votes, speeches
- Voted strongly for equal gay rights. votes, speeches
- Voted strongly for laws to stop climate change. votes, speeches
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.
Committees and 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)
- Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill Committee (14 out of n/a)
- Education and Skills Bill Committee (18 out of n/a)
- Welfare Reform Bill Committee (0 out of n/a)
- Pensions Bill Committee (12 out of n/a)
- Welfare Reform Bill Committee (2 out of n/a)
- Rights of Savers Bill Committee (1 out of n/a)
- Child Trust Funds Bill Committee (7 out of n/a)
- Finance Bill Committee (14 out of n/a)
- Finance Bill Committee (13 out of n/a)
- Education Bill Committee (10 out of n/a)
Most recent appearances
- Bills Presented: Education and Health (19 Nov 2009)
“I congratulate the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr. Sheerman), the Chairman of the Select Committee, on his speech, which has taken us a little closer to touching on some of the issues that we will need to debate when the Children, Schools and Families Bill passes through the House, presumably in a few weeks' time. I agree with many of the points that the hon. Gentleman made in his speech,...”
- Bills Presented: Education and Health (19 Nov 2009)
“The hon. Gentleman correctly anticipates the comments that I want to make in my speech. I am not sure that I fully agree with the extreme position that he takes on the Badman review, if I may characterise it that way, but we certainly have some concerns about how the Government are going to implement it, which I want to touch on later.”
- Bills Presented: Education and Health (19 Nov 2009)
“I am grateful to the Secretary of State for that clarification. As we have been drawn into discussing the Badman review rather earlier in my speech than I had intended, all I would say now is this. First, we accept the Government's approach of saying that it is sensible for all those who are home educating to be registered. That is a reasonable minimum requirement. Our concerns, which will...”
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 19 debates in the last year — average amongst MPs.
- Has received answers to 444 written questions in the last year — well above average amongst MPs.
- Is a member of 0 select committees (0 as chair).
- Replied within 2 or 3 weeks to a high number of messages sent via WriteToThem.com during 2008, according to constituents.
- Has voted in 69% of votes in parliament with this affiliation — average amongst MPs. (From Public Whip)
- People have made 4 annotations on this MP’s speeches — below 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.
- 60 people are tracking whenever this MP speaks — email me whenever David Laws speaks.
- Has used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. "she sells seashells") 365 times in debates — above average amongst MPs. (Why is this here?)
Register of Members’ Interests
Nil
Register last updated: 11 Nov 2009. 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 – 2007/08 receipts.
| Type | 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Additional Costs Allowance | £19,251 (414th) | £21,065 (344th) | £18,887 | £16,870 (435th) | £13,321 (512th) | £18,459 (396th) | £16,449 (123rd) |
| London Supplement | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Incidental Expenses Provision | £21,425 (131st) | £25,795 (79th) | £23,999 | £19,273 (joint 167th) | £18,784 (joint 262nd) | £18,228 (joint 213th) | £20,282 (158th) |
| Staffing Allowance | £90,287 (212th) | £81,920 (401st) | £80,068 | £70,378 (321st) | £68,023 (joint 228th) | £65,591 (233rd) | £52,721 (107th) |
| Communications Allowance | £9,907 (168th) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Members' Travel | £8,012 (joint 296th)* | £6,859 (350th)** | £7,585 | £13,308 (204th) | £10,929 (289th) | £12,811 (207th) | £7,467 (349th) |
| Members' Staff Travel | £124 (362nd) | £230 (joint 313th) | £150 | £347 (314th) | £158 (383rd) | £242 (joint 359th) | £395 (276th) |
| Members' Spouse Travel | £0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Members' Family Travel | £0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Centrally Purchased Stationery | £987 (227th) | £1,451 (170th) | £1,334 | £1,235 (joint 221st) | £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) | £1,125 (joint 205th) | £0 | £1,945 (joint 204th) | £1,945 (joint 199th) | £1,945 (joint 196th) | £1,945 (joint 186th) |
| Other Costs | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Total | £156,511 (156th) | £146,770 (141st) | £138,910 | £129,771 (198th) | £128,922 (136th) | £119,111 (191st) | £101,339 (75th) |
* Regular journeys between home/constituency/Westminster: Mileage £6,430 (39th). Rail £1,056 (432nd). Other: Rail £526 (42nd).