Leftwing publisher praises Brighton and Hove Tory MP

The Guardian newspaper and website has praised one of Brighton and Hove’s three MPs as hard working.

It said that Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove, was among a handful of politicians who consistently attended the majority of votes in the House of Commons.

He was commended in a satirical article which aimed to highlight Britain’s laziest parliamentarians.

In keeping with a reputation for spelling mistakes and typographical errors, which earned the newspaper its nickname of The Grauniad, it spelt Mr Weatherley’s name wrong.

Mr Weatherley was one of six MPs who missed just 1.9 per cent of votes over the period examined, making all six the most diligent in terms of voting.

Fellow Tory MP Simon Kirby, who represents Brighton Kemptown, missed just 3.8 per cent of all votes in the period in question.

Along with 25 other MPs, this was the next best voting performance.

Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, missed one in four votes.

This is in line with a trend for opposition MPs to vote less often.

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes and Junior Transport Minister, missed 11.5 per cent of votes. He had one of the best voting records for a minister.

Their statistics reflect the fact that MPs deal with a great deal of work away from voting and debates in the chamber of the Commons.

In the House of Lords, Lord Bassam of Brighton – former council leader Steve Bassam – attended the House on 45 out of 46 sitting days.

Some peers attended every day while a handful hardly if ever bothered to go along.