Mr Robert Clay, former MP, Sunderland North

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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.

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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.

We will update this information if the situation changes. See more detail on votes during the COVID-19 period here.

Recent appearances

Orders of the Day — Shipbuilding 20 Nov 1990

The hon. Gentleman said that I was trying to wheedle my way around the rules, yet six months after the closure one of his predecessors, the right hon. Member for Braintree (Mr. Newton), argued in Brussels for a reopening of shipbuilding in Sunderland and was told by the Commissioner that that was not on and that he should have known that over the previous six months. That is a fact.
Orders of the Day — Shipbuilding 20 Nov 1990

I do not want to be sectarian, but the Government's attitude to what is happening to German shipbuilding is extraordinary. The seventh directive will come into effect on 1 January, but for the past few months no restraint has been imposed on the activities between the former East and West German shipyards. West German shipbuilders have been buying into East Germany and work has been...
Orders of the Day — Shipbuilding 20 Nov 1990

Having been through that complex matter, will the Minister accept that, on the interpretation he has just given the House, it boils down to the fact that the seventh directive will be more draconian on closures than the sixth directive was? If the sixth directive had remained as it was and if the North East Shipbuilders yards were still there, they could have reopened after five years,...