As the fallout of the Digital Economy Bill (now Act) being passed continues to settle, I’ve taken the time to compile a list detailing whether each of Scotland’s 59 MPs were present in the chamber for the crucial vote and which way they cast their ballot. As a quick reminder, there are 39 Labour, 12 Liberal Democrat, 7 SNP and 1 Conservative MPs representing Scotland in the House of Commons.
Data has been sourced from VoteThemOut while address details for constituency offices, used in the postcode search, came from Westminster Parliamentary Record.
The final total out of the 59 Scottish MPs was 18 For, 5 Against and 36 Absents. Here follows a constituency-by-constituency breakdown for each MP. Keep reading after the list for analysis and a party-by-party breakdown.
Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire
Aberdeen North
Frank Doran (Labour) – For
Aberdeen South
Anne Begg (Labour) – Absent
Banff and Buchan
Alex Salmond (SNP) – Absent
Gordon
Malcolm Bruce (Lib Dem) – Absent
West Aberdeen and Kincardineshire
Robert Smith (Lib Dem) – Absent
Angus and Dundee City
Angus
Mike Weir (SNP) – Absent
Dundee East
Stewart Hosie (SNP) – For
Dundee West
James McGovern (Labour) – Absent
Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute
Alan Reid (Lib Dem) – Absent
City of Edinburgh
Edinburgh East
Gavin Strang (Labour) – For
Edinburgh North and Leith
Mark Lazarowicz (Labour) – Against
Edinburgh South
Nigel Griffiths (Labour) – Absent
Edinburgh South West
Alistair Darling (Labour) – Absent
Edinburgh West
John Barrett (Lib Dem) – Against
Clackmannanshire and Perth and Kinross
Ochil and South Perthshire
Gordon Banks (Labour) – Absent
Perth and North Perthshire
Pete Wishart (SNP) – Absent
Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
Michael Moore (Lib Dem) – Absent
Dumfries and Galloway
Russell Brown (Labour) – Absent
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
David Mundell (Conservative) – Absent
East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
Adam Ingram (Labour) – For
Lanark and Hamilton East
Jimmy Hood (Labour) – Absent
Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Toomy McAvoy (Labour) – For
East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
Sandra Osborne (Labour) – For
Central Ayrshire
Brian Donohoe (Labour) – Absent
Kilmarnock and Loudon
Des Browne (Labour) – For
North Ayrshire and Arran
Katy Clark (Labour) – Absent
East Dumbartonshire and North Lanarkshire
Airdrie and Shotts
John Reid (Labour) – For
Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
Tom Clarke (Labour) – Absent
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
Rosemary McKenna (Labour) – Absent
East Dumbartonshire
Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) – Absent
Motherwell and Wishaw
Frank Roy (Labour) – Absent
East Lothian
East Lothian
Anne Moffat (Labour) – Absent
East Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire
Jim Murphy (Labour) – Absent
Falkirk and West Lothian
Falkirk
Eric Joyce (Labour) – Against
Linlithgow and East Falkirk
Michael Connarty (Labour) – For
Livingston
Jim Devine (Labour) – Absent
Fife
Dunfermline and West Fife
Willie Rennie (Lib Dem) – Absent
Glenrothes
Lindsay Roy (Labour) – Absent
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
Gordon Brown (Labour) – Absent
North East Fife
Menzies Campbell (Lib Dem) – Absent
Glasgow City
Glasgow Central
Mohammed Sarwar (Labour) – Absent
Glasgow East
John Mason (SNP) – Absent
Glasgow North
Anne McKechin (Labour) – For
Glasgow North East
Willie Bain (Speaker) – For
Glasgow North West
John Robertson (Labour) – For
Glasgow South
Tom Harris (Labour) – Absent
Glasgow South West
Ian Davidson (Labour) – For
Highland
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
John Thurso (Lib Dem) – Against
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
Danny Alexander (Lib Dem) – Absent
Ross, Skye and Lochaber
Charles Kennedy (Lib Dem) – Absent
Inverclyde
Inverclyde
David Cairns (Labour) – For
Midlothian
Midlothian
David Hamilton (Labour) – For
Moray
Moray
Angus Robertson (SNP) – Absent
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)
Na h-Eileanan Siar
Angus MacNeil (SNP) – Absent
Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands
Orkney and Shetland
Alistair Carmichael (Lib Dem) – Against
Renfrewshire
Paisley and Renfrewshire North
Jim Sheriden (Labour) – For
Paisley and Renfrewshire South
Douglas Alexander (Labour) – For
Stirling
Stirling
Anne McGuire (Labour) – Absent
West Dumbartonshire
West Dumbartonshire
John McFall (Labour) – For
Analysis
Labour
- 17 Labour MPs voted For the DE Bill.
- 2 Labour MPs voted Against the DE Bill
- 20 Labour MPs were Absent or Abstained.
Only two Labour MPs – Mark Lazarowicz and Eric Joyce – broke the whip to vote against the Bill. There were also many high-profile Labour absentees including Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, with the likes of John Reid shoring up the For vote. Still, more than half of the party’s MPs stayed at home despite the presence of the whip and government’s determination to drive the Bill through.
Liberal Democrats
- 0 Lib Dem MPs voted For the DE Bill
- 3 Lib Dem MPs voted Against the DE Bill
- 9 Lib Dem MPs were Absent or Abstained.
No Lib Dem MP voted in favour of the Bill, but only three turned out to vote it down, despite the party being firmly against the proposed legislation. More big name absentees here with Charles Kennedy and Menzies Campbell staying at home. Bizarrely, the MPs for the far-flung Caithness, Sutherland and East Ross and Orkney and Shetland managed to make the vote, while many of their southerly colleagues were absent.
Scottish National Party
- 1 SNP MP voted For the DE Bill
- 0 SNP MPs voted Against the DE Bill
- 6 SNP MPs were Absent or Abstained.
Yet another high-profile absentee here with Alex Salmond nowhere to be seen, though he is stepping down from his Westminster seat to concentrate on his duties as First Minister of Scotland after the forthcoming election. Pete Wishart was surprisingly absent after robustly engaging with the debate during the Bill’s Second Reading the previous evening.
Conservatives
- 0 Conservative MPs voted For the DE Bill
- 0 Conservative MPs voted Against the DE Bill
- 1 Conservative MP was Absent or Abstained.
The Conservative Party’s only Scottish MP fails to turn up for the vote. I bet his constituents are thrilled.
In total, far less than half of Scotland’s MPs – a pitiful 38% – bothered to turn up and vote on the Digital Economy Bill.
Although it was to be expected that the majority of the Labour party would either spinelessly follow the whip or pittifully stay at home, what truly shocks me is the abhorrently poor turn out on behalf of the Lib Dems. Surely a party so clearly against this draconic bill should at least have the collective mental apparatus to figure that actually voting in line with what one says sends a stronger message than sound bites or slogans. If they can’t even do this sort of thing right now, I really question why I should bother giving them my protest vote this election when they evidently show just as little care as either the Conservatives or Labour.
I find myself in the curious position of having to choose between a Labour MP who has proven time and time again that he will vote against the whip when necessary and an increasingly impotent-looking Lib Dem candidate whose main selling point is the fact that he’s neither Labour nor Conservative. And all of this in a constituency where Labour’s 2,500 vote majority could easily be eroded.
My head tells me to give Labour a bloody nose and send them to lick their wounds for a while in opposition but my guy instinct is actually to vote for the incumbent MP both because of his record in the constituency and his handling of the Digital Economy Bill.
While I think a hung parliament is the best possible outcome for democracy in Britain, I do worry that the Lib Dems will prove as ineffective in government as they have in opposition. I would love to be proved wrong but the failure of their Scottish MPs to turn up for a critical vote has shaken my faith in the party.
A difficult choice, none the less, I think it’s important to send labour a message, and to see if the lib dems can actually achieve anything they talk about.