This data was produced by TheyWorkForYou from a variety of sources.
Email me updates on Robert Syms’s activity (no more than once per day)

Robert Syms
Conservative MP for Poole
- Entered Parliament on 1 May 1997 — General election
- Send a message to your MP (via WriteToThem.com)
- Sign up to HearFromYourMP to get messages from your MP
- Help us add video by matching a speech by Robert Syms
- Voting record
- Topics of interest
- Most recent appearances
- Numerology
- Register of Members’ Interests
- Expenses
Voting record (from PublicWhip)
How Robert Syms voted on key issues since 2001:
- Voted moderately against equal gay rights. votes
- Voted strongly against introducing ID cards. votes
- Voted a mixture of for and against a smoking ban. votes
- Voted very strongly for the Iraq war. votes
- Voted strongly for an investigation into the Iraq war. votes
- Voted moderately for a stricter asylum system. votes
- Voted moderately against university tuition fees. votes
- Voted for raising England’s undergraduate tuition fee cap to £9,000 per year. votes
- Voted very strongly for increasing the rate of VAT. votes
- Voted very strongly for replacing Trident. votes
- Voted moderately against more EU integration. votes
- Voted moderately against Labour's anti-terrorism laws. votes
- Voted a mixture of for and against a transparent Parliament. votes
- Voted strongly for laws to stop climate change. votes
- Voted very strongly against allowing ministers to intervene in inquests. votes
- Voted strongly against introducing foundation hospitals. votes
- Voted very strongly against a more proportional system for electing MPs. votes
- Voted very strongly against the hunting ban. votes
- Voted moderately against automatic enrolment in occupational pensions. votes
- Voted a mixture of for and against encouraging occupational pensions. votes
- Voted very strongly against removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords. votes
- Voted moderately for a wholly elected House of Lords. votes
- Voted strongly for greater autonomy for schools. 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: Health, Transport, Local Government and the Regions, Deputy Prime Minister, Home Department, Treasury
- Subjects (based on headings added by Hansard): Trade Unions, Departmental Marketing, Illegal Immigrants, Building Regulations, Fluoride
(based on written questions asked by Robert Syms and answered by departments)
Public Bill Committees (sittings attended)
- Estates of Deceased Persons (Forfeiture Rule and Law Of Succession) Bill Committee (1 out of 1)
- Local Authorities (Overview and Scrutiny) Bill Committee (1 out of 1)
- Bribery Bill Committee (5 out of 5)
- Sustainable Communities Act 2007 (Amendment) Bill Committee (2 out of 1)
- Finance Bill Committee (15 out of 18)
- Housing and Regeneration Bill Committee (17 out of 17)
- Health and Safety (Offences) Bill Committee (1 out of 1)
- Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill Committee (2 out of 2)
- Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill Committee (17 out of 18)
- Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill Committee (1 out of 1)
- Civil Aviation Bill Committee (2 out of 3)
- Housing Bill Committee (15 out of 19)
- Crime (International Co-operation) Bill Committee (8 out of 8)
- Local Government Bill Committee (13 out of 14)
Most recent appearances
- Bills Presented — Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Relocation to Bristol) Bill: Clause 8 — Council tax reduction schemes (31 Jan 2012)
“I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman’s passionate speech. Clearly, apart from potential costs for software and computers, a scheme will have to be drawn up and publicised. All the schemes will be different, which means that there will have to be a lot of publicity locally to ascertain what people are entitled to. We need some answers.”
- Bills Presented — Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Relocation to Bristol) Bill: Clause 8 — Council tax reduction schemes (31 Jan 2012)
“The right hon. Gentleman is making a powerful point, but is it not more likely that, rather than having a cut of 15% or 17% across the board, the numbers will be more limited, so some people will have a cut of 100% because not as many will qualify?”
- Bills Presented — Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Relocation to Bristol) Bill: Clause 8 — Council tax reduction schemes (31 Jan 2012)
“Another question is whether we can differentiate council tax payers from non-council tax payers. What happens when there is a split household, in which one person is a pensioner and one is not? What happens when someone becomes a pensioner in-year? There will be so many months when they are not a pensioner and so many when they are. That also needs to be explained.”
More of Robert Syms'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 22 debates in the last year — below average amongst MPs.
- Has received answers to 43 written questions in the last year — 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 94.58% of votes in this Parliament with this affiliation — well above average amongst MPs. (From Public Whip)
- People have made 3 annotations on this MP’s speeches — average amongst MPs.
- This MP's speeches, in Hansard, are readable by an average 16–17 year old, going by the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score.
- 99 people are tracking this MP — email me updates on Robert Syms’s activity.
- Has used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. "she sells seashells") 388 times in debates — above average amongst MPs. (Why is this here?)
Register of Members’ Interests
Register last updated: 13 Jan 2012. 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 | £24,000 (52nd) | £23,083 (joint 1st with 142 others) | £22,110 (joint 1st with 183 others) | £21,634 | £20,902 (joint 1st with 187 others) | £20,333 (joint 3rd with 149 others) | £19,722 (joint 1st with 230 others) | £15,738 (joint 236th with 8 others) |
| London costs | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Office running costs | £19,922 (220th) | £18,630 (313th) | £20,417 (309th) | £19,488 | £19,325 (joint 11th with 77 others) | £15,160 (570th) | £17,645 (430th) | £10,856 (496th) |
| Staffing costs | £82,869 (545th) | £81,739 (502nd) | £76,915 (524th) | £70,187 | £63,788 (568th) | £61,769 (568th) | £59,430 (537th) | £43,965 (403rd) |
| Communications Allowance | £5,861 (453rd) | £8,759 (292nd) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Members' Travel | £5,682 (404th)1 | £5,784 (415th)2 | £5,631 (425th)3 | £5,365 | £8,415 (404th) | £7,789 (406th) | £8,875 (382nd) | £8,042 (318th) |
| Members' Staff Travel | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £444 (joint 273rd with 1 other) | £876 (155th) |
| 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 | £1,347 (589th) | £0 | £449 (549th) | £146 | £350 (574th) | £156 (633rd) | £219 (633rd) | £371 (598th) |
| Stationery: Associated Postage Costs | £0 | £2,805 (305th) | £1,253 | £1,419 (507th) | £597 (615th) | N/A | N/A | |
| Centrally Provided Computer Equipment | £922 (608th) | £707 (621st) | £812 | £812 (647th) | £812 (644th) | £812 (637th) | £0 | |
| Other Costs | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Total | £139,681 (459th) | £138,917 (422nd) | £129,034 (470th) | £118,885 | £115,011 (486th) | £106,616 (550th) | £107,147 (459th) | £79,848 (489th) |
1 Regular journeys between home/constituency/Westminster: Mileage £5,682 (51st).
2 Regular journeys between home/constituency/Westminster: Mileage £5,784 (61st).
