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Voting summaries
MPs have many roles, but one of the most important is that they make decisions. These decisions shape the laws that govern us, and can affect every aspect of how we live our lives.
One of the ways MPs make decisions is by voting.
On TheyWorkForYou, we create voting summaries that group a set of decisions together, show how an MP has generally voted on a set of related votes, and if they differ from their party.
You can read more about our process , the kinds of votes we include , how we compare MPs to parties , and why we think this is important .
Below are summaries of how Charles Kennedy has voted on key issues, grouped by policy area (randomly ordered).
Charles Kennedy’s voting in Parliament
Charles Kennedy was previously a Liberal Democrat MP, and on the vast majority of issues would have followed instructions from their party and voted the same way as Liberal Democrat MPs.
Where MPs differ is either because they have made a decision not to follow the party whip (rebelling), or where they have differed from the majority of their colleagues in a free vote.
Charles Kennedy sometimes differs from their party colleagues, such as:
Last voted on in 2015
Last voted on between 2010 and 2014
Consistently voted for a wholly elected House of Lords Show votes
3 votes for, between 2003 and 2012. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs consistently voted for.
Generally voted for local councils keeping money raised from taxes on business premises in their areas Show votes
1 vote for, 3 absences, between 2012 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs consistently voted for.
Consistently voted for fixed periods between parliamentary elections Show votes
3 votes for, between 2010 and 2014. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs consistently voted for.
Voted a mixture of for and against (alignment score: 43%) an equal number of electors per parliamentary constituency Show votes
3 votes for, 4 votes against, between 2010 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs generally voted for.
Generally voted for removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords Show votes
3 votes for, 2 absences, between 1999 and 2012. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs generally voted for.
Generally voted against transferring more powers to the Senedd/Welsh Parliament Show votes
1 vote against, 8 absences, between 2011 and 2014. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs generally voted against.
Consistently voted against a more proportional system for electing MPs Show votes
1 vote against, in 2010. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs consistently voted against.
Voted a mixture of for and against (alignment score: 50%) fewer MPs in the House of Commons Show votes
1 vote for, 1 vote against, between 2010 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs voted a mixture of for and against (alignment score: 47%).
Absences for this policy may be affected COVID-19 restrictions .
Last voted on between 2005 and 2009
Last updated: 3 December 2024.
Learn more about our voting records and what they mean.
How Charles Kennedy voted on Miscellaneous Topics #
Last voted on in 2015
Last voted on between 2010 and 2014
Consistently voted for the privatisation of Royal Mail Show votes
2 votes for, between 2009 and 2011. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs consistently voted for.
Generally voted for allowing national security sensitive evidence to be put before courts in secret sessions Show votes
2 votes for, 4 absences, between 2012 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted for.
Almost always voted against Labour's anti-terrorism laws Show votes
8 votes against, 2 absences, between 2001 and 2010. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted against.
Generally voted for limits on success fees paid to lawyers in no-win no fee cases Show votes
3 votes for, 3 absences, between 2011 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted for.
Consistently voted against restrictions on fees charged to tenants by letting agents Show votes
1 vote against, between 2013 and 2014. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted against.
Generally voted for greater regulation of gambling Show votes
3 votes for, 1 vote against, 6 absences, between 2004 and 2014. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs voted a mixture of for and against (alignment score: 49%).
Generally voted for restricting the scope of legal aid Show votes
4 votes for, 5 absences, between 2011 and 2014. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs generally voted for.
Generally voted for capping civil service redundancy payments Show votes
2 votes for, 3 absences, in 2010. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted for.
Last updated: 26 April 2022.
Learn more about our voting records and what they mean.
How Charles Kennedy voted on Environmental Issues #
Last voted on between 2010 and 2014
Generally voted for lower taxes on fuel for motor vehicles Show votes
3 votes for, 3 absences, between 2010 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted for.
Generally voted for financial incentives for low carbon emission electricity generation methods Show votes
1 vote for, 2 absences, between 2011 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs tended to vote for (alignment score: 62%).
Generally voted for new high speed rail infrastructure Show votes
2 votes for, 3 absences, between 2013 and 2014. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted for.
Voted a mixture of for and against (alignment score: 40%) measures to prevent climate change Show votes
2 votes for, 3 votes against, 5 absences, between 2000 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs tended to vote for (alignment score: 63%).
Voted for improving environmental water quality Show votes
1 vote for, in 2012. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs consistently voted for.
Generally voted for higher taxes on plane tickets Show votes
4 votes for, 5 absences, between 2012 and 2014. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted for.
Last updated: 11 February 2026.
Learn more about our voting records and what they mean.
How Charles Kennedy voted on Taxation and Employment #
Last voted on in 2015
Last voted on between 2010 and 2014
Generally voted for allowing employees to exchange some employment rights for shares in the company they work for Show votes
3 votes for, 2 absences, between 2012 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted for.
Voted for increasing capital gains tax Show votes
1 vote for, between 2010 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs consistently voted for.
Generally voted for increasing the rate of VAT Show votes
5 votes for, 4 absences, between 2008 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted for.
Generally voted for higher taxes on plane tickets Show votes
4 votes for, 5 absences, between 2012 and 2014. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted for.
Generally voted for lower taxes on fuel for motor vehicles Show votes
3 votes for, 3 absences, between 2010 and 2013. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs almost always voted for.
Consistently voted for automatic enrolment in occupational pensions Show votes
1 vote for, in 2010. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs generally voted for.
Generally voted for encouraging occupational pensions Show votes
2 votes for, 1 absence, between 2004 and 2011. Comparable Liberal Democrat MPs generally voted for.
Last updated: 2 December 2025.
Learn more about our voting records and what they mean.
As a result of COVID-19, some MPs were less able to vote in Parliament in certain periods, and this will be reflected by absences in their voting record.
11th May to 2nd June 2020
All MPs could vote remotely through an online voting tool. Votes cast remotely are shown as normal on the TheyWorkForYou voting record.
2nd to 9th June 2020
The option of online voting was removed, and a number of MPs may have been unable to vote because they were not physically able to attend.
10th June 2020 onwards
The requirements on proxy voting were relaxed, allowing MPs to designate another MP to cast a vote on their behalf.
If an MP votes by proxy, it is effectively exactly the same as if they cast the vote in person and it shows up on their TheyWorkForYou voting record.
MPs are not required to designate a proxy, and may instead pair with an opposing MP to miss a vote. Parliament does not record when two MPs have come to a pairing arrangement, so on TheyWorkForYou, they will both appear to have been absent for the vote.
See more detail on votes during the COVID-19 period here.
Note for journalists and researchers: The data on this page may be used freely, on condition that TheyWorkForYou.com is cited as the source.
This data was produced by TheyWorkForYou from a variety of sources.
For an explanation of the vote descriptions please see our page about voting information on TheyWorkForYou .
Profile photo: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
