Liberal Democrats MP for Melksham and Devizes since (elected). An MP continuously since .
Parliament recordVoting recordWritten questionsEarly day motions
Entries on this tracker
143
Each filed under the party they sat for that day
Register entries
4
As currently published
Declared while sitting for Lib Dem
£11,280
2 of 4 entries state an amount
| Party | Office | Area | Period | Began | Ended | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lib Dem | MP | Melksham and Devizes | – present | elected | — | Party history |
Parliament's party history for this member: Liberal Democrat ( – present).
Every entry the member has in the Register of Members' Financial Interests, as Parliament currently publishes it. The wording and values are the member's own declarations; nothing here has been assessed by this site.
Totals add only the entries that declare an amount received: payments for work, donations, gifts, and funded visits (register categories 1.1, 2, 3, 4 and 5). Ongoing employment is listed but not added, because its figure is a rate rather than a sum received. Each entry is dated by when the benefit happened, not when it was registered, and placed under the party the member sat for on that date. A member who changed party therefore has a separate total for each.
| Date | Category | Entry | Declared value | Sitting for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| date registered | 2. Donations and support | Opal-Chant Limited - £10,000.00 | £10,000 | Lib Dem | Register record |
| 3. Gifts, UK sources | National Liberal Club - £1,280.00 | £1,280 | Lib Dem | Register record | |
| date registered | 8. Miscellaneous | Unitary Councillor on Wiltshire Council (unpaid since 1 May 2025 and previously registered under Category 1). | — | Lib Dem | Register record |
| date registered | 8. Miscellaneous | Wiltshire Council Councillor, (previously registered under Category 1) | — | Lib Dem | Register record |
Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the most disruptive changes for frontline staff and patients has been the loss of dedicated admin support in favour of the so-called single point of access—or SPA—that simply does not work? If HCRG is serious about improving services, restoring adequate admin support for clinical teams must surely be part of the solution. Time spent on admin by clinical staff is time spent away from patients.
I thank the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood) for bringing forward this valuable private Member’s Bill on historic British pubs. I have some wonderful examples in my constituency, including, among others in Melksham, the King’s Arms, which has been named by Historic England as a grade II listed building; the Bear, which was used as a coaching inn in the 18th century; and the Market Tavern. In Devizes, there is another Bear in the hotel on the Market Place; the Lamb Inn, which dates back to the 15th century; the White Bear Inn, which is grade II listed and reputed to be the oldest pub in Devizes, dating back to 1567, and which is allegedly haunted; and the Black Swan Inn. In Urchfont, there is the Lamb Inn, a thatched pub dating back to the 15th century. In Potterne, there is the George & Dragon, which, again, dates back to the 15th century and is recognised on the national heritage list. In Market Lavington, there is the Green Dragon, which dates back to the 17th century. In Sells Green, near Seend, there is the Three Magpies, another grade II listed pub, which has links to the canal. In Bradford on Avon, there is the Barge Inn, the Three Horseshoes and the Swan, which sadly closed in September 2023.
I will not go into the ins and outs of hauntings, although they may be of great interest to the hon. Member. In Box, there is the Northey Arms, a historic inn close to the Great Western Railway, and the Queens Head, which is famous locally for its music. In Colerne, there is the Fox & Hounds, a grade II listed pub, and the Six Bells, which dates from the 18th century. In Winsley, there is the Seven Stars. Some pubs in my constituency have closed and then reopened with community support—the Hop Pole in Limpley Stoke is a worthy example—and others are in the midst of this struggle, such as the Ivy in Heddington, which has closed. The Somerset Arms in Semington has received support from none other than His Royal Highness Prince William, the Prince of Wales. Historic pubs need our support. Moreover, all pubs and communities need an economic shift from the supermarket to the pub, and I hope that the Chancellor is listening as he writes his Budget speech. The people need the pub, and the future of our country needs these pubs.
Bannerman’s bar in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency is well frequented, especially during the Edinburgh fringe. We have heard the most wonderful arguments and expositions about pubs from Members from right across the House, but I wonder if the hon. Member is convinced that the Bill should pass?
Many across the House, like me, welcome the Foreign Secretary’s announcement of a ban on products from illegal settlements in the occupied territories. Back in the early ’80s, I was a kibbutznik based at Kibbutz Re’im in the Negev, where I was conducting agricultural research. In those now far-off days, I would go with my Israeli friends to meet their Palestinian friends in Gaza—to meet, to trade, and to drink strong black Arabic coffee. Re’im was one of the kibbutzim attacked on 7 October 2023, so I can say that I understand something of the area and the tensions, and I can also say that peace is possible. I would like to talk about a topic raised by one of my constituents at a constituency surgery in Melksham and Devizes last Saturday: the closure of the unit tracking potential law breaches, as announced in <em>The Guardian</em> on 24 April. The closure of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s international humanitarian law cell is doubly worrying at this time, especially when it means that funding for the conflict and security monitoring project run by the Centre for Information Resilience will come to an end.
I heartily agree with the hon. Lady. The centre’s work for the FCDO included the world’s largest open-source monitoring of incidents across Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. It is the only programme in the UK that collects, verifies and analyses human rights and conflict incidents in Israel and the occupied territories. The closure of the monitoring programme will mean that the Foreign Office will lose access to a database of 26,000 and counting incidents in the middle east, stretching back to 7 October 2023. The database also helps FCDO teams decide whether arms export control licences to Israel should remain suspended, and it is used by officials discussing whether international humanitarian law—for example, rules on proportionality—is being breached. The head of the Metropolitan police’s war crimes team in the counter-terrorism unit underlined the importance <span id="1511" class="column-number" data-column-number="1511"></span>of CIR’s work in helping the Metropolitan police to consider war crimes allegations, including the unlawful shooting of minors in Gaza. I hope the Minister can clarify whether these cuts have been reversed. For the Government to be operating blind at this time would be extremely concerning. Furthermore, this issue casts light on the importance of the FCDO’s work and the self-defeating nature of the Government’s cuts to our aid programme, which those in my party, and I suspect many Members across the Chamber, condemn.
This week’s debate on the Health Bill was poorly organised and not enough time was allowed. Many Back Benchers from my party, as well as others from across the House, were not called to speak despite hours of bobbing. I wished to address new clause 72, on the provision of minor injuries units in rural areas. When such measures, which can add validity to the Bill that is under discussion, are not given the time that they deserve, it results in frustration among MPs, who are trying to represent their electorates, and in a lessening of the effectiveness of our democracy. Will greater thought please be given to allowing Back-Bench MPs a more valid say in such debates?
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank the hon. Member for Waveney Valley (Adrian Ramsay) for proposing this important debate. This year, in the midst of unnatural heatwaves and wildfires, I have so far attended five screenings across my constituency of the film on the national emergency briefing. It was heartening—but, at the same time, concerning—to see so many people of all ages coming together to agree on one thing: that something needs to be done about the environment and the impending disaster we are staring down. Those honest and open conversations are partly why I am so concerned that the Government have so far refused to publish in full the national security assessment. The public and Parliament deserve to see the full picture, especially on an issue with such significant implications for national security.<span id="200WH" class="column-number" data-column-number="200WH"></span> Over the summer I camped on the south coast, in Dorset, and it certainly felt and looked more like a scene out of Africa than the damp summer holidays I remember from my youth, but that is not something to celebrate. As the national emergency briefing makes clear, a halt to the gulf stream could lead to perishingly cold winters, as well as stifling summers. Elsewhere in the world, life itself may become intolerable, leading to many more climate refugees seeking to come to our shores. The recent tragic events in Nepal resulting from climate-driven glacial collapse emphasise the consequences of inaction. We in the north, who invented the industrial revolution, which directly led to CO<sub>2</sub> increases in the atmosphere, have a duty to find and implement solutions for the future of human—and, indeed, all—life on this beautiful planet Earth. Those solutions should not be seen as costs, but instead as the best investments that we and the whole world can profit from.
<Question HRSContentId="{394C56C2-41A0-4DD2-92DA-8ADDE52D81AB}">1. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{F546B07F-6D80-4F64-B1FD-5412E1E3BF5A}">If he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to review arms export licensing to Israel.</QuestionText> </Question>
Will the UK ban all trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the west bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan heights, sanction companies profiteering from this trade and enforce the International Court of Justice ruling against illegal occupation?
Held . Recorded result: LD Gain. Majority 2,401. 51,203 votes cast from an electorate of 73,482. Parties are as each candidate stood at the time.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Mathew | Liberal Democrat | 20,031 | 39.1% |
| Michelle Donelan | Conservative | 17,630 | 34.4% |
| Malcolm Cupis | Reform UK | 6,726 | 13.1% |
| Kerry Postlewhite | Labour | 4,587 | 9.0% |
| Catherine Read | Green Party | 2,229 | 4.4% |
| Seat | Dates |
|---|---|
| Melksham and DevizesElected 1 time | – present |
| Committee | Dates |
|---|---|
| International Development Committee | – present |
| Constituency | Date |
|---|---|
| North Wiltshire | |
| North Wiltshire | |
| North Wiltshire | |
| North Somerset |
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