Last month I posted up some research from the Liberal Democrat team in the Lords, showing what a poor voting record Conservative members of the House of Lords have:
November was the month of the missing Conservatives. In vote after vote they didn’t show up. We could have defeated the Government time after time if only they had bothered to walk down the division lobby.
The Conservatives have not managed a turnout to match ours in any vote since October. On 18th November there were 4 divisions – in three of them there were more Liberal Democrats than Conservatives voting despite there being over twice as many Conservative peers. (Full story here)
Today’s Sunday Telegraph runs with another aspect of this:
David Cameron faces fresh questions about the dedication of his team after it emerged that Tory peers turn up for fewer than one in three votes.
Their average attendance rate of only 29 per cent in the House of Lords compares with Labour and Liberal Democrat peers who turn up to more than 50 per cent of votes on average…Mr Cameron has repeatedly called on members of his parliamentary party to show more dedication in recent months. But he has been snubbed by senior MPs and peers who have insisted on their right to hold directorships.
After reportedly ordering his shadow cabinet to give up their outside interests, the Tory leader was forced to backtrack amid a potential rebellion from within the ranks.
You can read the full story here.
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One Comment
This is a natural consequence of having a legislative chamber which is not in any sense accountable to the public. I bet they still turn up to get their daily allowances.
Add to that the fact that Gordon Brown has abandoned any pretence of appointing people to the Lords in a politically balanced way and the confident predictions of some that a fully appointed Upper House is the best possible option is starting to look increasingly shaky.