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Photo of Robert Syms

Robert Syms

Conservative MP for Poole

    • Entered Parliament on 1 May 1997 — General election
    • Majority: 5,988 votes. — 380th out of 643 MPs.

    Voting record (from PublicWhip)

    How Robert Syms voted on key issues since 2001:

    • Voted a mixture of for and against a transparent Parliament. votes, speeches
    • Voted a mixture of for and 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 moderately against Labour's anti-terrorism laws. votes, speeches
    • Voted very strongly for the Iraq war. votes, speeches
    • Voted strongly for an investigation into the Iraq war. votes, speeches
    • Voted very strongly for replacing Trident. votes, speeches
    • Voted very strongly against the hunting ban. votes, speeches
    • Voted moderately against equal gay rights. votes, speeches
    • Voted very 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

    Committees and topics of interest

    Select Committee membership
    • Member, Health Committee (since 20 Aug 2008)

    Asks most questions about

    • Departments: Health, Transport, Local Government and the Regions, Deputy Prime Minister, Home Department, Environment Food and Rural Affairs

    • Subjects (based on headings added by Hansard): Building Regulations, Fluoride, Patient Records, Concessionary Travel Schemes, Departmental Underspend

    (based on written questions asked by Robert Syms and answered by departments)

    Public Bill Committees (sittings attended)

    RSS feed Most recent appearances

    Opposition Day — [19th allotted day]: Equitable Life (21 Oct 2009) has video

    “A lot of Equitable Life policyholders are in great financial difficulty and quite frail. Is there a possibility of interim payments to assist them, or are they going to have to wait until the very end, when everything is done and dusted with the compensation scheme?”

    Bournemouth and Poole Fe College (14 Jul 2009)

    “An apology is great, and the Minister has mentioned the good things that the college is doing, but it will not be able to continue doing them unless there is an offset to the costs that it has already committed. It may not be a 100 per cent. offset, but can he say a little more about what will happen?”

    Bournemouth and Poole Fe College (14 Jul 2009)

    “The original proposal was for 80 per cent. funding, and I do not think that it would be unreasonable if there were now 80 per cent. funding of the up-front costs. I appreciate that the Minister may not be able to indicate that, but that is the sort of level that would be needed to help out Bournemouth and Poole college so that it can keep first-rate education.”

    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 18 debates in the last year — average amongst MPs.
    • Has received answers to 13 written questions in the last year — average amongst MPs.
    • Is a member of 1 select committee (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 74% of votes in parliament with this affiliation — above average amongst MPs. (From Public Whip)
    • People have made 3 annotations on this MP’s speeches — below 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.
    • 86 people are tracking whenever this MP speaks — email me whenever Robert Syms speaks.
    • Has used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. "she sells seashells") 324 times in debates — average amongst MPs. (Why is this here?)

    Register of Members’ Interests

    1. Remunerated directorships
    Marden Holdings Ltd - family business with interests in property.
    C Syms and Sons Ltd - family building business.
    5. Gifts, benefits and hospitality (UK)
    Honorary membership of Parkstone Yacht Club. (Registered 25 June 2009)
    9. Registrable shareholdings
    (a) Marden Holdings Ltd - family business with interests in property.
    (b) C Syms and sons Ltd - family building business.

    Register last updated: 28 Oct 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.

    Type2007/08 (ranking out of 645)2006/07 (ranking out of 645)2005/062004/05 (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£23,083 (joint 1st) £22,110 (joint 1st) £21,634 £20,902 (joint 1st) £20,333 (joint 3rd) £19,722 (joint 1st) £15,738 (joint 236th)
    London Supplement£0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
    Incidental Expenses Provision£18,630 (313th) £20,417 (309th) £19,488 £19,325 (joint 11th) £15,160 (570th) £17,645 (430th) £10,856 (496th)
    Staffing Allowance£81,739 (502nd) £76,915 (524th) £70,187 £63,788 (568th) £61,769 (568th) £59,430 (537th) £43,965 (403rd)
    Communications Allowance£8,759 (292nd) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
    Members' Travel£5,784 (415th)* £5,631 (425th)** £5,365 £8,415 (404th) £7,789 (406th) £8,875 (382nd) £8,042 (318th)
    Members' Staff Travel£0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £444 (joint 273rd) £876 (155th)
    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£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
    Total£138,917 (422nd) £129,034 (470th) £118,885 £115,011 (486th) £106,616 (550th) £107,147 (459th) £79,848 (489th)

    * Regular journeys between home/constituency/Westminster: Mileage £5,784 (61st).

    ** Car £5,631 (96th).