What do the “rebellion” and “attendance” figures mean exactly?
The apparent meaning of the data can be misleading, so do not to jump to conclusions about MPs or Lords until you have understood it. “Attendance” is for voting or telling in divisions. An MP may have a low attendance because they have abstained, have ministerial or other duties or they are the speaker. Perhaps they consider each division carefully, and only vote when they know about the subject. Lords are appointed for life, so they may have decided to retire. Sinn Féin MPs, because they haven’t taken the oath of allegiance, are unable to vote. A full list of reasons for low attendance can be found in the Divisions section on page 11 of a House of Commons library research paper. Note also that the Public Whip does not currently record if a member spoke in the debate but did not vote. Extra note, October 2008: We have found that people take the attendance in divisions too seriously, when it is really pretty meaningless. At Public Whip, we’d rather an MP actually scrutinised law and mad
