The Curious Case of Mark Williams MP’s Voting Record
February 25th, 2009 by Stephen
Plaid Cymru pushed a leaflet through my door today. The front page showed a picture of the party’s prospective candidate for the next general election – someone I know and respect, so I took the time to read the rest of the leaflet.
On the back page there was an article that quoted the Daily Mail (always a bad start!) saying that Mark Williams was all but invisible at Westminster.
Well in the information age it is easy enough to check these things. I went to the wonderful They Work for you website to look at my MP’s statistics.
Far from being invisible, the record shows he has spoken in more debates than average, has received written answers to more questions than average and has answered a high number of constituent questions quickly online. All this on reasonable expenses that are only slightly above average, and that because of travel costs, which considering the remoteness of teh constituency, is altogether reasonable.
One area that Mark Williams falls below average on is his parliamentary attendance. At 66% attendance at votes, he is a little below average here. But how much of that is related to the issues of distance, geography and relevance? So the immediate question – as Plaid Cymru is putting this information out – is how would he compare to Plaid Cymru MPs? Well again, a quick search of the Public Whip site turns up the information we need.
- Mark Williams MP, Ceredigion (LibDem) – 66.2%
- Hywel Williams MP, Caernarfon (PC) – 64.2%
- Adam Price MP, Carmarthen East & Dinefwr (PC) – 60.5%
- Elfyn Llwyd MP, Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (PC) – 63.5%
So to be clear, Mark Williams has a better voting record than any Plaid Cymru MP. A case of the pot calling the kettle black?
I don’t have a problem with Plaid Cymru. I often vote for them. But I do have a problem with misleading statements, and this surely qualifies.
I agree 100%… I have not or met any MP who is always happy and willing to devote his time to this constituence…
I works damn hard, to be honest, I dont think he gets much sleep with the work he’s doing..
We had a Public Inquiry in Ceredigion County Council, Mark Williams caught a train from London at 5am to be there… he too had to be back for a voting in London by 8pm.
Where as our Plaid Cymru’s AM couldnt travel from Cardiff to show her face..
Thats the difference.
I heard Mark Williams answer questions on where he stood re the Third Sector,at a recent hustings
Before this I did not intend to vote,however Mark impressd me and so I voted for him.
I think Ceredigion have a good representative in Westminster
thanks for this information. I had seen a lot of comments from Plaid Cymru supporters about Mark Williams being invisible, so I thought it was time to look it up. I prefer people to fight on what they do, not what the other does or doesn’t do – unless it is really important. It seems in this case it was really not a relevant critisicm.
I heard Conservative led accusations about Nick Ainger (Labour south pembes) and his expenses. So I looked it up – his expenses pay back was less than half of Stephen Crabb’s (conservative preseli Sir Benfro – next door!) and he was in the bottom quarter for expenditure in general. Unfortunately he lost his seat – I am not a Labour supporter but know he was a hard working MP.