Six months on from his election win, Labour and Co-operative MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Luke Pollard has launched his first newsletter and a set of Parliament benchmarking statistics that compare him with Plymouth’s other MPs. You can sign up for his newsletter here. 

Luke said:

“I said before I was elected I wanted Plymouth to get a better deal in Parliament and that the current way of doing politics was broken.”

“I want people to know how I’m doing and whether I’m giving Plymouth its voice back in Parliament as I promised.”

“That’s why six months after being elected, with my newsletter I’ve released a set of performance stats that compare how I’ve been doing with Plymouth’s other MPs.”

You can see Luke’s Parliament performance stats below -; with a guide for what they mean and how to check them:

Methodology

Times spoken

What does this mean?

This is the number of debates that the MP has spoken in, both in the House of Commons Chamber and Westminster Hall (between 8 June 2017 -; 8 December 2017). It does not count the same debate twice. It also counts the number of Question Times where MPs ask Ministers questions. This does not include contributions as a Chair.

How can I check this?

1.Go to Theyworkforyou.com. Search for the MP and click on’Numerology’.
2.Click on ‘See all X’s speeches’
3.Click ‘Advanced search’.
4.Specify date range.

Times mentioned Plymouth

What does this mean? 

This is the number of debates or question times in which the MP has said the word ‘Plymouth’ (between 8 June 2017 -; 8 December 2017). This is not a count of the number of times the MP said the word ‘Plymouth’.  Plymouth only counts once on each occasion. This does not include written questions.

How can I check this?

1.Go to Theyworkforyou.com and search for MP and click on Numerology.
2.Click on ‘See all X’s speeches’
3.Click ‘Advanced search’.
4.’Find this exact word or phrase’ – Plymouth
5.Specify date range.

Written Questions tabled

What does this mean?

This is the total number of Written Questions that the MP has tabled (between 8 June 2017 -; 8 December 2017).  Written Questions are another way that MPs hold Government to account.

How can I check this?

1.Go to Parliament.uk
2.’Parliamentary business’ tab
3.’Publications & records’
4.’Written Questions and Answers and Written Statements’
5.Search for Member and specify date range

Votes voted in (%)

What does this mean?

This is the percentage of votes in which the MP has voted since (between 8 June 2017 -; 12 December 2017). Where an MP has not voted that means they abstained or were not present.

This includes votes for Private Members Bills held on sitting Fridays and votes for Opposition Day Motions.

How can I check this?

1.Go to Theyworkforyou.com and search for MP ‘Numerology’
2.See ‘Has voted in X% of votes in this Parliament’