Liberal Democrats MP for Woking since (elected). An MP continuously since .
Parliament recordVoting recordWritten questionsEarly day motions
Entries on this tracker
311
Each filed under the party they sat for that day
Register entries
3
As currently published
Declared while sitting for Lib Dem
£4,552.86
3 of 3 entries state an amount
| Party | Office | Area | Period | Began | Ended | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lib Dem | MP | Woking | – 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3. Gifts, UK sources | Silverstone Circuits Limited - £1,860.00 | £1,860 | Lib Dem | Register record | |
| 3. Gifts, UK sources | National Liberal Club - £1,140.00 | £1,140 | Lib Dem | Register record | |
| 3. Gifts, UK sources | National Liberal Club - £1,552.86 | £1,552.86 | Lib Dem | Register record |
I thank the hon. Member for introducing this debate. Like him, I have surveyed my commuting constituents; as a result, I regularly complain about the unreliability of South Western Railway. It is particularly unreliable whenever there is hot or cold weather. Does he agree that the Government should deliver an investment plan to improve our railway network so that it can adapt to climate change, including by introducing air conditioning on all train services?
<Question HRSContentId="{09C974A0-6A4E-4705-8F95-5F4856E9B507}">10. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{B510A919-AC5B-4BCF-9F5F-1390265B0A9B}">What steps he has taken to help reduce the cost of living. </QuestionText></Question>
Yesterday, Trussell and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation wrote to the Prime Minister criticising the Government for freezing local housing allowance, saying that it will not help people with the cost of living and will critically undermine plans to end rough sleeping. Does the Chancellor agree with those national charities and Citizens Advice in my Woking constituency that rent support must be tied to actual rent levels?
One of the lifts at Woking station was out of service for 40 days in one year, and constituents in West Byfleet have complained that their station’s platform is too high for them to use safely. What is the Secretary of State doing to make sure that stations on the South Western Railway line are accessible for all?
Yesterday’s Budget included an announcement that Surrey would get a mayor. The Red Book said we were in advanced talks to have a mayor in my county, which is news to MPs like me, who have not been consulted, and there has been no vote by any local authorities in the county. Can we have a debate in Government time about the merits of introducing new mayors and on the process that could result in my constituents having a mayor without having a say?
The two local authorities that serve my constituency are due to be abolished next year as part of the first phase of local government reorganisation, and now we hear that Surrey is likely to have a mayor. Will the Minister confirm that the <span id="475" class="column-number" data-column-number="475"></span>Government will let Surrey choose whether or not to have a mayor via a public consultation and a vote of councillors?
Before I speak about the Bill and wider issues in the construction industry, let me say that my thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of the 72 people who lost their lives in the Grenfell fire. Earlier today the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee was carrying out a review of fire and rescue services, and, unsurprisingly, building safety and Grenfell were covered., I appreciate that the Bill focuses on building and construction practices—among other issues—and not really on fire services, but I was surprised and disappointed to hear earlier today from the head of His Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary and fire and rescue services that it had not been consulted about it at all. Firefighters put their lives in danger to cope with and tackle the failures in the construction industry, and I hope that the Minister will agree to consult the inspectorate on the Bill to ensure that any amendments are approved by it. That would also give the inspectorate an opportunity to suggest amendments.<span id="235" class="column-number" data-column-number="235"></span> My constituency of Woking has been plagued by three big building safety and construction issues. In 2023, 100 residents of the Eastgate building in Woking were evacuated from their homes after structural defects were found. To this day, Eastgate stands empty—a visual reminder of how our building safety system has failed. Southern Housing, which manages Eastgate, says that it is structurally unsafe, and Barratt, which built it, says that it is safe. After the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and I became involved last year, independent testing was carried out, and I am grateful to the Government for supporting me in that effort. The new testing on the building was completed many months ago, but the results have still not been released. There is no way that both sides can be right in that situation. I do not know what they are hiding, but this needs to be resolved immediately. Residents deserve to know what is going on. Either residents need to be allowed back in, or the developer needs to rebuild Eastgate and pay compensation. Will the Minister meet me and force the results of the testing to be released? Sadly, Woking’s building safety issues and construction failures go beyond our homes. The Victoria Square development, which is a new shopping centre with residential towers and a hotel, was built by Sir Robert McAlpine several years ago. It was due to open in October 2020, but following problems with broken cladding fixtures on the Hilton hotel, it finally opened four years after that. The main A road that goes through Woking town centre had to repeatedly close due to the cladding failures, and this caused significant financial losses to local businesses and residents. Thankfully, the road has now reopened, and the cladding panels have been properly secured. Under the common law on negligence, purely economic losses are not recoverable. The formerly Conservative-run borough council could have ensured that this was covered through contract law, but it did not do so. Why is that not standard practice for building projects? Will the Minister amend the Bill, so that any losses consequent on dangerous cladding failures, such as those experienced by businesses and residents in Woking, are paid for by developers like Sir Robert McAlpine? There is one final building safety issue in Woking that I wish to speak about, and it involves the estate where I grew up. Lakeview in Goldsworth Park is made up of mainly four-storey maisonettes. Woking borough council recently discovered that the cladding is dangerous, and quickly took steps to make it as safe as possible. The council created a plan for a comprehensive refurbishment and a long-term solution to the cladding problems on the estate. I congratulate and thank the council, especially the portfolio holder for housing, Councillor Ian Johnson, and the strategic director for housing, Louise Strongitharm, for their tireless work on this issue. Although we are getting the right result in Lakeview, what happened on my old estate shows why we as a country need to take building safety much more seriously, and need to agree to legislative changes. Most properties in Lakeview are council homes, but there are almost 100 privately owned leasehold properties in the area. Leaseholders will be charged for the refurbishment but, quite rightly, not for the cladding works. That construction work and refurbishment is planned to start in early January. If it was a private development, leaseholders would slowly pay into a sinking fund, but local authorities <span id="236" class="column-number" data-column-number="236"></span>are banned from running such a fund. Will the Minister not only lift the ban on local authorities having a sinking fund, but mandate them to have one, so that what happened to leaseholders in Lakeview does not happen again? Those three examples from Woking show that this Bill does not go far or fast enough, and it is not fit for purpose. As my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton and Wellington (Gideon Amos) said, we will not support it, but we will propose more amendments, to ensure that we genuinely tackle all the building safety issues facing Woking and constituencies across the country.
The PEEL—police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy—review into Surrey police recently found that my local force requires improvement on a range of matters, including how it investigates crime, how it responds to serious crime and the leadership itself. What steps is the Home Secretary taking to ensure that Surrey police improves and that we tackle crime in Woking?
Several of my constituents are in financial hardship as a result of Capita’s failings. This appalling company has even sent out financial statements and letters with figures deliberately obscured so that former civil servants do not know what they are entitled to. MPs across the House have clearly lost confidence in Capita, so will the Minister agree for the Cabinet Office itself to set up a hotline for MPs to raise cases and hold regular surgeries so that we can ensure that our former civil servant constituents get the money that they are entitled to?
The Prime Minister has said that wider society, especially the faith and voluntary sectors, will need to play their part in ending rough sleeping, but voluntary groups such as Woking’s homeless shelter, the York Road Project, are already overstretched and underfunded. How will the Minister ensure that the voluntary sector is supported and funded to end rough sleeping both this year and in future years in the long term?
Held . Recorded result: LD Gain. Majority 11,246. 48,145 votes cast from an electorate of 72,969. Parties are as each candidate stood at the time.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will Forster | Liberal Democrat | 24,019 | 49.9% |
| Jonathan Lord | Conservative | 12,773 | 26.5% |
| Richard Barker | Reform UK | 4,888 | 10.2% |
| Ese Erheriene | Labour | 4,444 | 9.2% |
| Nataly Anderson | Green Party | 1,853 | 3.8% |
| Tim Read | Heritage Party | 168 | 0.3% |
| Seat | Dates |
|---|---|
| WokingElected 1 time | – present |
| Post | Dates |
|---|---|
| Liberal Democrat Deputy Chief WhipOpposition Department | – present |
| Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Immigration and Asylum)Opposition Department | – |
| Committee | Dates |
|---|---|
| Committee of Selection | – present |
| Licensing Hours Extensions Bill | – |
| Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill | – |
| Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee | – present |
| Constituency | Date |
|---|---|
| Woking | |
| Woking |
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