The Laziest MP

'As far as the voting record of the dual mandate MSPs goes, the Government has a huge majority and they are not needed.' A spokesman for Donald Dewar, 5 th January 2000.

Voting records of dual mandate MSPs

Henry McLeish MP MSP
He was branded as Scotland's Laziest MP when it was revealed that he had not attended a single one of the 73 votes at Westminster in the session which began 19 th October 1999

MP	Westminster Constituency	Party	Votes attended / 73
Henry McLeish	Fife Central	Labour	0
Donald Dewar	Glasgow Anniesland	Labour	5
Jim Wallace	Orkney & Shetland	Liberal Democrat	5
Malcolm Chisholm	Edinburgh North & Leith	Labour	6
John Home Robertson	East Lothian	Labour	9
Roseanna Cunningham	Perth	Scottish National Party	10
Sam Galbraith	Strathkelvin & Bearsden	Labour	11
John McAllion	Dundee East	Labour	16
Dennis Canavan	Falkirk West	Independent	17
Donald Gorrie	Edinburgh West	Liberal Democrat	19
John Swinney	Tayside North	Scottish National Party	19
Alex Salmond	Banff & Buchan	Scottish National Party	22
Andrew Welsh	Angus	Scottish National Party	22
Margaret Ewing	Moray	Scottish National Party	24
Alasdair Morgan	Galloway & Upper Nithsdale	Scottish National Party	25

McLeish is 'laziest MP'

By Michael Settle, Political Correspondent in the Herald

"By definition, he has to be," an SNP spokesman said last night.

"If he is not going to buck up his ideas, there is a strong case for him to step down as a Westminster MP and concentrate on being an MSP. It seems at this stage it's beyond him to do both," he told The Herald.

The Tories' Shadow Constitutional Affairs spokesman, Nigel Evans, pointed out that those with a dual mandate were still happily claiming their £47,000-a-year Westminster salary, yet did not seem to be doing the job.

"Is this what Labour means by rip-off Britain?" asked the Lancashire MP. Branding Mr McLeish one of the worst offenders for non-attendance, he added: "This is just another example of how Labour's ill thought-out plans are destroying our constitution.

"If these MPs are not prepared to fulfil their role at Westminster, they should resign and give people the opportunity to elect MPs who care about their interests."

Mr McLeish, the MP/MSP for Fife Central, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

A survey of the 15 Scottish politicians with a dual mandate in Edinburgh and London showed that while First Minister Donald Dewar and his Deputy Jim Wallace both voted only five times each since October 19, four of the SNP's six dual members, including leader Alex Salmond, attended the most votes on between 22 and 25 occasions.

"Quite clearly, this points out that SNP MPs are actively involving themselves in the democratic process at Holyrood and Westminster," added the SNP spokesman.

However, a spokesman for Mr Dewar said that voting in London was not a reflection of the Westminster work done by the dual members.

"As far as the voting record of the dual mandate MSPs goes, the Government has a huge majority and they are not needed," he said.

"For a period of time, back benchers were told they did not have to come to Westminster for weeks because the majority was so huge."

He explained that the matter was up to the party whips.

"The MPs can be slipped from voting. That happens when the Scottish dual mandate members are not required in Westminster.

"As long as they are dealing with constituency problems and representing their constituents, it's up to the whips when they are required to vote.

"I don't think you will find any people in Glasgow Anniesland complaining about the representation they receive from Donald Dewar."

Dual members take the full Westminster MP's salary of £47,000 and are entitled to one third of an MSP's salary - around £13,300. Holyrood Ministers are also entitled to their additional Ministerial salaries.

However, it is thought that all forgo their MSPs' salary entitlement.

This means that Mr Dewar takes home more than £111,000 - some £1500 more than Tony Blair, who forgoes a larger slice of his entitlement - while Mr McLeish takes home approximately £80,000.

The full list of Scottish MPs/MSPs' Westminster voting records also includes: Malcolm Chisholm (Lab) 6; John Home Robertson (Lab) 9; Roseanna Cunningham (SNP) 10; Sam Galbraith (Lab) 11; John McAllion (Lab) 16; Dennis Canavan (Ind) 17; John Swinney (SNP) 19; Donald Gorrie (Lib Dem) 19; Mr Salmond 22; Andrew Welsh (SNP) 22; Margaret Ewing (SNP) 24; and Alasdair Morgan (SNP) 25.

The survey also showed that of the Welsh MPs/AMs, former Welsh Secretary Ron Davies failed to attend a single vote at Westminster, and Wales' First Secretary, Alun Michael, did so just once, while Plaid Cymru president Dafydd Wigley voted on 20 occasions.

- Jan 05