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Mr David Heath

Mr David Heath

Last served Somerton and Frome (1997-05-01 – 2015-03-30)
64.7
Leaning conservative
34 coded votes
2,123
Total votes
1,051
Ayes
1,072
Noes
0
Other

Parliamentary History

1 May 1997 – 30 Mar 2015 (17 yrs 10 mo)

Ideology spectrum

64.7
ProgressiveCentreConservative

Leaning conservative — based on 34 coded votes across 3 axes (2% coverage).

Policy axis scores

0 = progressive, 50 = centre, 100 = conservative. Based on coded division votes.

Economic policy 60
Medium confidence 10 votes
Civil liberties 100
Low confidence 1 votes
Climate / energy 65
Medium confidence 23 votes

Voting trends (most recent 12 months of activity)

Voting record

January 2015 13 votes
Division Date Vote
“unconventional petroleum” means petroleum which does not flow readily to the wellbore. (6) In section 3 of the Petroleum Act 1998, at the end of subsection (4) add “and subsection (4A). “(4A) Nothing in this section permits the grant of a licence to search and bore for and get unconventional petroleum in Great Britain during the relevant period. (4B) For the purposes of subsection (4A) “relevant ... 26 Jan 2015 NO
‘(1) The Scotland Act 1998 is amended as follows: (2) In Schedule 5, Part II, section D2, after “gas other than through pipes,”, insert— “( ) The licensing of onshore shale gas extraction underlying Scotland. ( ) Responsibility for mineral access rights for onshore extraction of shale gas in Scotland.”’— (Tom Greatrex.) Brought up. 26 Jan 2015 NO
I am delighted that my hon. Friend says that compensation for blight may indeed be possible, as proposed in my amendment 61. I am sorry that there is such a lack of time to make a serious response to the amendments still outstanding for debate this afternoon. Will the hon. Lady give way? No—I am sorry, but I am short of time. Labour’s new clause 19 does not offer the kind of protection it pretends... 26 Jan 2015 NO
Division 137 26 Jan 2015 NO
Division 141 26 Jan 2015 NO
Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. My right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve) has made an entirely sensible point. I have tabled one or two amendments to the first Bill, but I very much hope that they will not take up too much time and that my right hon. and learned Friend will have ample time in which to discuss the important matters that he wishes to raise.... 23 Jan 2015 NO
Question accordingly agreed to. Amendments (a) to (k) agreed to. Motion made, and Question put, 13 Jan 2015 AYE
The whole purpose of the reforms is to protect public bodies against cases brought on a technicality. One of my concerns that has not been addressed is about secondary legislation. I have severe doubts about whether secondary legislation should be subject to judicial review, but it is; Parliament itself can be judicially reviewed. The reforms are not designed to undermine the core purpose of judic... 13 Jan 2015 AYE
“signed off by the ‘quad’”? Did the Chief Secretary sign them off? Was it a mistake or is he now trying to “reverse ferret” out of it? Which is it? deficit, we will then balance the books, allowing borrowing only for productive capital investment or for financial stability. That means that we will finish the job and then be able to invest in our public services so that the people of the country ca... 13 Jan 2015 AYE
Question accordingly negatived. Motion made, and Question put, That this House disagrees with Lords amendment 12.— (Jo Swinson .) 12 Jan 2015 AYE
There has been an encouraging trend in recent years towards safer and more tailored online ticket marketplaces and away from the touts outside venues. These websites can offer much more consumer protection than was available before, often in excess of what the law requires. The sites have processes in place to try to prevent, discourage and punish fraud. Although no market is perfect, we know how ... 12 Jan 2015 NO
Paragraph 13 provides that if the power is used two or more times against the same individual in a six-month period, the police would be allowed to hold the documents a third time for any five days before they need to apply to a court for an extension of time. The court is required to refuse to extend the duration of the travel documents’ retention unless exceptional circumstances apply. The amend... 6 Jan 2015 NO
‘(2) This section shall be repealed on 31 December 2016 unless both Houses of Parliament have passed a resolution that it should continue in force until a future date. (3) The date specified in a resolution of both Houses of Parliament under subsection (2) may be modified by subsequent resolutions of both Houses of Parliament.’. This amendment would require a vote in Parliament to renew the power ... 6 Jan 2015 NO
December 2014 17 votes
Division Date Vote
A number of hon. Members have mentioned sanctions. I have discussed the issue with my own local jobcentre and I can confirm that hardship payments are being paid where needed. The right hon. Member for Birkenhead I want to turn to a number of other relevant issues. First, is poverty a driver to the use of food banks? It might well be—obviously it is—but the best way to get people out of poverty is... 17 Dec 2014 NO
Question accordingly negatived. Question put forthwith ( Standing Order No. 31(2) ), That the proposed words be there added. 17 Dec 2014 AYE
The hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore) suggested that the comparison with the private rented sector was something of an afterthought. Uncharacteristically for her, she had not read the impact assessment we published in 2012, in which we made that very point. We heard from some of my hon. Friends about how their local authorities have been very proactive in this area. We heard how, in ... 17 Dec 2014 NO
Question accordingly negatived. Clause 24 ordered to stand part of the Bill. 16 Dec 2014 NO
I want to take on board the point about universities and freedom of speech. As I have said previously, universities’ commitment to freedom of speech and the rationality underpinning the advancement of knowledge mean that they represent one of our most important safeguards against extremist views and ideologies. The duty is not about restricting freedom of speech. We have not had the advantage of s... 16 Dec 2014 NO
That is hardly robust encouragement from the Government. It appears that the Liberal Democrats have had a change of heart. They now admit that section 78 of the 2010 Act was the right approach all along. We still have time before the election to make pay transparency a reality. It does not require primary legislation. Section 78 already gives the Government the power to make regulations to require... 16 Dec 2014 AYE
If someone fails a fitness test through no fault of their own and they do not qualify for ill health retirement, they will get a redeployed role or an unreduced pension. That will be put on a statutory footing in the national framework—a full, unreduced pension, if not an alternative role. Having heard the words of the Minister, I think the whole House can now support the statutory instrument. I a... 15 Dec 2014 NO
Question accordingly negatived. Question put forthwith ( Standing Order No. 62(2) ), That the Bill be now read a Second time. 8 Dec 2014 AYE
Further public accountability will be provided by the new watchdog mentioned by the hon. Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) . We will be converting Passenger Focus into a new body, Transport Focus, which will better describe its reason for existence: it will now be commenting on the state of the roads as well as the modes of transport that use them. When Brunel was building his bridge, there was no pl... 8 Dec 2014 NO
Question accordingly agreed to. Question put accordingly, That the Bill be now read a Third time. 5 Dec 2014 AYE
What could a Government Bill have done instead? It could have set out where the revenues would come from to fund the promise. It could have hypothecated some element of taxation. It could have set up an independent body to ensure that the revenue was dedicated to the causes that are, in and of themselves, enormously admirable. But the Government chose not to do that. Instead, they chose to support... 5 Dec 2014 AYE
(2) An order under subsection (1) shall not be made unless a referendum has taken place in the United Kingdom and more than 50% of those casting a vote do so in favour of meeting the target. (3) This Act shall only have effect in those years where the United Kingdom records a budget surplus. (4) The Secretary of State may vary the target mentioned in section 1 by an order contained in a statutory ... 5 Dec 2014 NO
(a) the amount payable by the United Kingdom to the European Union. (b) Welfare benefits paid to foreign nationals. (c) Welfare benefits paid to UK nationals living abroad. (d) The administrative costs of the Department for International Development and its agencies and associated public bodies.” —(Philip Davies .) Brought up, and read the First time. 5 Dec 2014 NO
Question accordingly agreed to. Question put accordingly, That the clause be read a Second time. 5 Dec 2014 NO
“as soon as reasonably practicable”. When will that be? What does that mean? Will we have to wait for a report to come out a year hence? It is completely meaningless and I cannot believe that anyone has fallen for it. My hon. Friend’s amendment, which is very sensible indeed and should be welcomed by the whole House, says that the statement should be made after “no more than 10 days during which b... 5 Dec 2014 AYE
I do not want to preview the Adjournment debate too widely, although we do want to generate interest in it, but my case is that although the Government have attempted to introduce steps to alleviate such impacts, they are actually mitigating the unfairness rather than dealing with its cause, which is the way the Treasury taxes pensions that are effectively a second pension on the same job because ... 3 Dec 2014 NO
“The Bill establishes the secure college in law. Beyond the legal framework, the legislation does not specify details of the regime to be delivered within the secure college.” The most obvious example of that is the secure college rules. Effectively, the secure colleges are the old-style Borstals, and everybody knew that they did not work. Indeed. One of the fundamental problems is that there is n... 1 Dec 2014 AYE
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