Burstow named London's hardest working MP

12.00.00am GMT Tue 11th Jan 2005

Local MP, Paul Burstow, has come top of a poll by the Evening Standard newspaper (11th January) as London's hardest working MP. The paper gave Paul a 5 out of 5 star rating for his work as an MP.

With all six of Paul's Lib Dem colleagues coming in the top 15 out of 74 London MP the Evening Standard praised the party's 'sterling performance'.

The league table was compiled by the paper using official figures from the House of Commons. The Evening Standard also pointed out that "London's 14 Tory MPs perform poorly, with not one achieving five-stars."

Two other south west London Liberal Democrats joined Mr Burstow in the top 3 of the best value MPs league. Vince Cable, MP for Twickenham, and Carshalton and Wallington MP Tom Brake came in at 2nd and 3rd respectively.

As well as his work representing his constituents in Sutton and Cheam Paul Burstow is the Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary.

Paul Burstow MP commented:

"It is quite right that MPs should be held to account for the money they are spending on behalf of the taxpayers.

"What the Evening Standard survey demonstrates is that when you vote Liberal Democrat you get the hardest working MPs.

"This survey demonstrates why thousands of voters already regard the Liberal Democrats as a more credible and effective opposition than the Tories."

In September 2003 Paul Burstow, was named by the Guardian newspaper as one of the most influential people in public services and social policy in its 'Influencers 100'.

Mr Burstow was one of just five Members of Parliament listed by the paper, the others where Oliver Letwin, Frank Dobson, Steve Webb, and Frank Field.

The Evening Standard compiled its league table by weighing up the Commons attendance record and activity in Parliament of each MP, together with their expenses for financial year 2003-04.

ENDS

Notes

More details of the Guardian top 100 influencers can be found at:

http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,7843,1038556,00.html

More details of the Evening Standard survey can be found at:

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/londonnews/articles/15867728?source=Evening%20Standard

How the Evening Standard's Best Value performance was calculated:

1. MPs' "activity index" starting with their attendance at Commons votes, expressed in percentage points.

2. Added to this, a point for every 25 written questions submitted to ministers; 50 early day motions signed; or 500 letters sent to constituents (calculated from postage expenses).

3. Additional duties were accounted for by giving 40 points to Cabinet ministers or party leaders; 20 to other front-benchers and whips; and 10 to MPs serving on select committees.

4. For each measure the most recent figures available were used. Some relate to the 2003-04 financial year, others relating to the parliamentary years ending November 2003 or 2004.

5. To calculate the "value for money index" MPs expenses were divided by their activity index.

The Evening Standard's editorial, 11th January 2005:

"Our survey today on the productivity of London MPs is the first attempt to assess the worth of our representatives at Westminster both in terms of their activity and value for money. By relating our MP's expenses to their parliamentary and constituency activities, we have drawn up a league table of their performance. The scoring system has its limitation. It does not, for instance, take into account the actual worth of MPs' speeches in the Commons, nor can it assess the utility of MPs' letters to their constituents. But it does show, among other things, that the industriousness of MPs bears no relation to their public profile - indeed, two of the best known TV Parliamentarians, Labour's Diane Abbott and the Conservative Michael Portillo rank almost bottom because their Commons attendance is so poor. Tony Banks, who was prominent in the campaign to ban fox hunting, turns out to have a poor record in attendance and dealing with constituents' problems. On the other hand, the sterling performance of the Liberal Democrats, who took the top three places in our poll, can be a matter of pride for the party. Such work, and the transparency of the figures that allow us to measure it, are important features of our democracy. Alongside the wider issues of the day, voters may like to take these findings into account at the coming election."