Where's Charlie?
The Sunday Times ran an interesting story at the weekend about moonlighting MPs at the Westminster Parliament making particular mention of Charlie Kennedy, Gordon Brown and George Galloway.
Now you can say what you like about the Scottish Parliament, but the plain fact is that a Holyrood MSP would never get away with this kind of outrageous behaviour.
Where’s Charlie? taunts SNP over MP’s voting rate
Jason Allardyce - The Sunday Times
Kennedy under fire for his voting record in Westminster
CHARLES KENNEDY, the former Lib Dem leader, has been branded unfit to remain an MP after statistics showed he takes part in fewer Westminster votes than most other members of the Commons.
He, with former prime minister Gordon Brown and George Galloway, the Respect MP, are among those with the lowest voting rate, according to data collated by the website Public Whip.
With some MPs having taken part in more than 90% of all votes since the current parliament began in 2010, Kennedy, who has participated in only 30%, is being targeted by a resurgent Scottish National party (SNP) fighting to oust him from his Highland stronghold.
The SNP candidate for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, Ian Blackford, claims Kennedy is poorly serving his constituents and has launched a Where’s Charlie? Twitter hashtag as he tries to overturn a 13,000 majority.
Brown is listed as having taken part in only 12.5% of votes and Galloway 10.5%. Others who feature at the bottom of the list include ministers, Commons speakers and deputy speakers who do not by convention vote — in addition to Sinn Fein MPs who refuse to take up Westminster seats they win due to their policy of refusing to recognise the legitimacy of British rule in Northern Ireland.
Blackford, the former SNP treasurer, accused Kennedy of letting down constituents by failing to take part in votes on matters ranging from the bedroom tax to nuclear submarines on the Clyde.
“I’m saddened to see such a poor voting record. The voters of Ross, Skye and Lochaber need a hard-working MP who will stand up for their interests and clearly, from these numbers, Charles Kennedy is not that man.”
Last week a Panelbase poll for The Sunday Times and Heart FM disclosed that the Lib Dems are now less popular than Ukip, with just 3% of voters in Scotland prepared to back them in May’s Westminster election. It could mean the Lib Dems lose all but two of their current 11 seats.
Neither Kennedy nor Brown commented. A supporter of the former prime minister said he worked “incredibly hard” in his constituency, while Galloway said the voting record was “a worthless judgment” which did not take account of the fact that he tabled more parliamentary motions and questions than most MPs.
Additional reporting by the Sunday Times data team.
More information at publicwhip.org.uk
CHARLES KENNEDY, the former Lib Dem leader, has been branded unfit to remain an MP after statistics showed he takes part in fewer Westminster votes than most other members of the Commons.
He, with former prime minister Gordon Brown and George Galloway, the Respect MP, are among those with the lowest voting rate, according to data collated by the website Public Whip.
With some MPs having taken part in more than 90% of all votes since the current parliament began in 2010, Kennedy, who has participated in only 30%, is being targeted by a resurgent Scottish National party (SNP) fighting to oust him from his Highland stronghold.
The SNP candidate for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, Ian Blackford, claims Kennedy is poorly serving his constituents and has launched a Where’s Charlie? Twitter hashtag as he tries to overturn a 13,000 majority.
Brown is listed as having taken part in only 12.5% of votes and Galloway 10.5%. Others who feature at the bottom of the list include ministers, Commons speakers and deputy speakers who do not by convention vote — in addition to Sinn Fein MPs who refuse to take up Westminster seats they win due to their policy of refusing to recognise the legitimacy of British rule in Northern Ireland.
Blackford, the former SNP treasurer, accused Kennedy of letting down constituents by failing to take part in votes on matters ranging from the bedroom tax to nuclear submarines on the Clyde.
“I’m saddened to see such a poor voting record. The voters of Ross, Skye and Lochaber need a hard-working MP who will stand up for their interests and clearly, from these numbers, Charles Kennedy is not that man.”
Last week a Panelbase poll for The Sunday Times and Heart FM disclosed that the Lib Dems are now less popular than Ukip, with just 3% of voters in Scotland prepared to back them in May’s Westminster election. It could mean the Lib Dems lose all but two of their current 11 seats.
Neither Kennedy nor Brown commented. A supporter of the former prime minister said he worked “incredibly hard” in his constituency, while Galloway said the voting record was “a worthless judgment” which did not take account of the fact that he tabled more parliamentary motions and questions than most MPs.
Additional reporting by the Sunday Times data team.
More information at publicwhip.org.uk
