We (because I am sure that you, dear reader, signed the e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting) have been luxuriating in the glow of the size of support for our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting for a few months but now that the ‘rival’ e-petition in support of grouse shooting has closed, on a risible 25,000 or so signatures, we can enjoy our total all the more.
We are told that driven grouse shooting is a much-loved hobby of the rich which plays an important part in the culture, tradition and economy of the uplands so we might have expected to see that love, that admiration, that need to show support, translated into a flood of signatures, particularly because the shooting press was exhorting shooters to do so. But it never happened.
No doubt we will be told that ‘we weren’t really trying’ but that’s fine – complacency and misjudgement are just what you want from the other side in a competition for politicians’ attention. Actually the epic fail to mobilise support for grouse shooting will be partly through idleness and partly because the shooting lobby really is very small. Loud, vociferous, strident, largely talking to itself, but small. The feeble total of signatures gained in support of grouse shooting might be largely due to indolence, or largely due to inability to mobilise the few real supporters – I really don’t care which it is.
But now is the time to reflect on the size of the disparity of visible support.
There are 650 Westminster constituencies. They are listed below with the number of signatures in favour of banning driven grouse shooting first and then the number of signatures in support of grouse shooting. Before you start scanning the list – how many constituencies of those 650 showed more support for grouse shooting than for a ban? How many do you guess?
The answer is just a dozen: none in Wales, none in Northern Ireland, three in grouse shooting areas of Scotland and nine in England (five in central London, three in grouse shooting areas and one in The Cotswolds). That leaves 638 constituencies where more people want a ban on driven grouse shooting than support it. 638 to 12 – that looks pretty good to me.
And now is the time to get back to your MP and point out to him or her that 638 constituencies want driven grouse shooting banned according to these figures. It’s hardly a damned close run thing (like Brexit was) it’s a massacre!
I’ll be writing to my MP and I’ll pop my letter on this blog later today. Why don’t you do something similar? And we’ll be quite happy for the grouse shooters to write to 12 MPs too.
England:
- Aldershot Gerald Howarth 138, 20
- Aldridge-Brownhills Wendy Morton 96, 5
- Altrincham and Sale West Graham Brady 150, 19
- Amber Valley Nigel Mills 207, 14
- Arundel and South Downs Nick Herbert 324, 108
- Ashfield Gloria De Piero 151, 9
- Ashford Damian Green 201, 86
- Ashton-under-Lyne Angela Rayner 103, 7
- Aylesbury David Lidington 204, 42
- Banbury Victoria Prentis 227, 115
- Barking Margaret Hodge 69, 2
- Barnsley Central Dan Jarvis 121, 11
- Barnsley East Michael Dugher 128, 17
- Barrow and Furness John Woodcock 185, 26
- Basildon and Billericay John Baron 106, 8
- Basingstoke Maria Miller 183, 28
- Bassetlaw John Mann 197, 49
- Bath Ben Howlett 299, 15
- Batley and Spen Tracy Brabin 136, 8
- Battersea Jane Ellison 112, 271
- Beaconsfield Dominic Grieve 151, 35
- Beckenham Bob Stewart 134, 9
- Bedford Richard Fuller 137, 7
- Bermondsey and Old Southwark Neil Coyle 147, 28
- Berwick-upon-Tweed Anne-Marie Trevelyan 269, 170
- Bethnal Green and Bow Rushanara Ali 131, 15
- Beverley and Holderness Graham Stuart 223, 50
- Bexhill and Battle Huw Merriman 233, 82
- Bexleyheath and Crayford David Evennett 78, 2
- Birkenhead Frank Field 116, 4
- Birmingham, Edgbaston Gisela Stuart 97, 9
- Birmingham, Erdington Jack Dromey 89, 4
- Birmingham, Hall Green Roger Godsiff 153, 5
- Birmingham, Hodge Hill Liam Byrne 37, 2
- Birmingham, Ladywood Shabana Mahmood 52, 3
- Birmingham, Northfield Richard Burden 129, 11
- Birmingham, Perry Barr Khalid Mahmood 47, 3
- Birmingham, Selly Oak Steve McCabe 141, 2
- Birmingham, Yardley Jess Phillips 79, 1
- Bishop Auckland Helen Goodman 191, 204
- Blackburn Kate Hollern 133, 10
- Blackley and Broughton Graham Stringer 86, 4
- Blackpool North and Cleveleys Paul Maynard 161, 5
- Blackpool South Gordon Marsden 122, 4
- Blaydon David Anderson 223, 20
- Blyth Valley Ronnie Campbell 146, 13
- Bognor Regis and Littlehampton Nick Gibb 202, 13
- Bolsover Dennis Skinner 194, 29
- Bolton North East David Crausby 137, 15
- Bolton South East Yasmin Qureshi 82, 7
- Bolton West Chris Green 165, 8
- Bootle Peter Dowd 144, 6
- Boston and Skegness Matt Warman 122, 39
- Bosworth David Tredinnick 182, 28
- Bournemouth East Tobias Ellwood 226, 5
- Bournemouth West Conor Burns 187, 7
- Bracknell Phillip Lee 195, 17
- Bradford East Imran Hussain 94, 7
- Bradford South Judith Cummins 94, 6
- Bradford West Naz Shah 92, 6
- Braintree James Cleverly 206, 61
- Brent Central Dawn Butler 88, 5
- Brent North Barry Gardiner 39, 1
- Brentford and Isleworth Ruth Cadbury 161, 21
- Brentwood and Ongar Eric Pickles 136, 18
- Bridgwater and West Somerset Ian Liddell-Grainger 324, 89
- Brigg and Goole Andrew Percy 146, 50
- Brighton, Kemptown Simon Kirby 329, 10
- Brighton, Pavilion Caroline Lucas 474, 7
- Bristol East Kerry McCarthy 299, 5
- Bristol North West Charlotte Leslie 223, 9
- Bristol South Karin Smyth 254, 4
- Bristol West Thangam Debbonaire 514, 21
- Broadland Keith Simpson 273, 60
- Bromley and Chislehurst Robert Neill 116, 6
- Bromsgrove Sajid Javid 189, 31
- Broxbourne Charles Walker 85, 8
- Broxtowe Anna Soubry 207, 8
- Buckingham8 John Bercow 220, 96
- Burnley Julie Cooper 161, 9
- Burton Andrew Griffiths 141, 34
- Bury North David Nuttall 163, 12
- Bury South Ivan Lewis 162, 8
- Bury St Edmunds Jo Churchill 279, 54
- Calder Valley Craig Whittaker 870, 31
- Camberwell and Peckham5 Harriet Harman 200, 10
- Camborne and Redruth George Eustice 249, 21
- Cambridge Daniel Zeichner 368, 17
- Cannock Chase Amanda Milling 108, 15
- Canterbury Julian Brazier 286, 41
- Carlisle John Stevenson 153, 39
- Carshalton and Wallington Tom Brake 129, 2
- Castle Point Rebecca Harris 125, 13
- Central Devon Mel Stride 360, 85
- Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Dan Poulter 247, 78
- Charnwood Edward Argar 186, 19
- Chatham and Aylesford Tracey Crouch 127, 9
- Cheadle Mary Robinson 181, 12
- Chelmsford Simon Burns 201, 11
- Chelsea and Fulham Greg Hands 91, 485
- Cheltenham Alex Chalk 212, 29
- Chesham and Amersham1 Cheryl Gillan 197, 53
- Chesterfield Toby Perkins 246, 17
- Chichester Andrew Tyrie 238, 83
- Chingford and Woodford Green4 Iain Duncan Smith 120, 4
- Chippenham Michelle Donelan 271, 29
- Chipping Barnet Theresa Villiers 133, 10
- Chorley Lindsay Hoyle 232, 51
- Christchurch Christopher Chope 217, 14
- Cities of London and Westminster Mark Field 140, 263
- City of Chester Christian Matheson 215, 29
- City of Durham Roberta Blackman-Woods 165, 40
- Clacton Douglas Carswell 124, 10
- Cleethorpes Martin Vickers 135, 25
- Colchester Will Quince 221, 12
- Colne Valley Jason McCartney 314, 47
- Congleton Fiona Bruce 252, 36
- Copeland Trudy Harrison 200, 45
- Corby Tom Pursglove 214, 88
- Coventry North East Colleen Fletcher 92, 6
- Coventry North West Geoffrey Robinson 143, 13
- Coventry South Jim Cunningham 118, 7
- Crawley Henry Smith 147, 6
- Crewe and Nantwich Edward Tison 205, 18
- Croydon Central Gavin Barwell 116, 1
- Croydon North Steve Reed 102, 4
- Croydon South Chris Philp 142, 5
- Dagenham and Rainham Jon Cruddas 90, 2
- Darlington Jenny Chapman 157, 18
- Dartford Gareth Johnson 120, 8
- Daventry Chris Heaton-Harris 196, 101
- Denton and Reddish Andrew Gwynne 122, 3
- Derby North Amanda Solloway 180, 6
- Derby South Margaret Beckett 125, 5
- Derbyshire Dales Patrick McLoughlin 493, 138
- Devizes Claire Perry 238, 207
- Dewsbury Paula Sherriff 186, 40
- Don Valley Caroline Flint 127, 29
- Doncaster Central Rosie Winterton 133, 5
- Doncaster North Edward Miliband 93, 21
- Dover Charlie Elphicke 202, 5
- Dudley North Ian Austin 70, 5
- Dudley South Mike Wood 74, 8
- Dulwich and West Norwood Helen Hayes 195, 15
- Ealing Central and Acton Rupa Huq 134, 17
- Ealing North Stephen Pound 86, 6
- Ealing, Southall Virendra Sharma 75, 1
- Easington Grahame Morris 83, 17
- East Devon Hugo Swire 278, 25
- East Ham Stephen Timms 49, 2
- East Hampshire Damian Hinds 244, 105
- East Surrey Sam Gyimah 197, 49
- East Worthing and Shoreham Tim Loughton 267, 8
- East Yorkshire Greg Knight 268, 88
- Eastbourne Caroline Ansell 191, 14
- Eastleigh Mims Davies 221, 17
- Eddisbury Antoinette Sandbach 173, 96
- Edmonton Kate Osamor 35, 1
- Ellesmere Port and Neston Justin Madders 147, 17
- Elmet and Rothwell Alec Shelbrooke 226, 67
- Eltham Clive Efford 141, 3
- Enfield North Joan Ryan 94, 1
- Enfield, Southgate David Burrowes 98, 5
- Epping Forest Eleanor Laing 133, 5
- Epsom and Ewell Chris Grayling 175, 13
- Erewash Maggie Throup 167, 9
- Erith and Thamesmead Teresa Pearce 88, 3
- Esher and Walton Dominic Raab 151, 29
- Exeter Ben Bradshaw 338, 20
- Fareham Suella Fernandes 176, 12
- Faversham and Mid Kent Helen Whately 184, 40
- Feltham and Heston Seema Malhotra 85, 3
- Filton and Bradley Stoke Jack Lopresti 164, 10
- Finchley and Golders Green Mike Freer 135, 4
- Folkestone and Hythe Damian Collins 249, 62
- Forest of Dean Mark Harper 282, 62
- Fylde Mark Menzies 232, 34
- Gainsborough Edward Leigh 191, 74
- Garston and Halewood Maria Eagle 174, 5
- Gateshead Ian Mearns 127, 4
- Gedling Vernon Coaker 218, 10
- Gillingham and Rainham Rehman Chishti 147, 14
- Gloucester Richard Graham 180, 16
- Gosport Caroline Dinenage 144, 8
- Grantham and Stamford Nick Boles 241, 120
- Gravesham Adam Holloway 136, 9
- Great Grimsby Melanie Onn 89, 14
- Great Yarmouth Brandon Lewis 163, 13
- Greenwich and Woolwich Matthew Pennycook 174, 5
- Guildford Anne Milton 217, 38
- Hackney North and Stoke Newington Diane Abbott 247, 7
- Hackney South and Shoreditch Meg Hillier 157, 13
- Halesowen and Rowley Regis James Morris 90, 9
- Halifax Holly Lynch 186, 20
- Haltemprice and Howden David Davis 172, 45
- Halton Derek Twigg 129, 12
- Hammersmith Andy Slaughter 128, 168
- Hampstead and Kilburn Tulip Siddiq 171, 24
- Harborough Edward Garnier 206, 40
- Harlow Robert Halfon 129, 4
- Harrogate and Knaresborough Andrew Jones 278, 83
- Harrow East Bob Blackman 42, 1
- Harrow West Gareth Thomas 88, 6
- Hartlepool Iain Wright 91, 8
- Harwich and North Essex Bernard Jenkin 244, 51
- Hastings and Rye Amber Rudd 290, 24
- Havant Alan Mak 154, 14
- Hayes and Harlington John McDonnell 55, 4
- Hazel Grove William Wragg 194, 14
- Hemel Hempstead Mike Penning 166, 16
- Hemsworth Jon Trickett 166, 22
- Hendon Matthew Offord 68, 2
- Henley John Howell 240, 148
- Hereford and South Herefordshire Jesse Norman 208, 68
- Hertford and Stortford Mark Prisk 208, 20
- Hertsmere Oliver Dowden 104, 18
- Hexham Guy Opperman 269, 241
- Heywood and Middleton Liz McInnes 127, 8
- High Peak Andrew Bingham 569, 72
- Hitchin and Harpenden Peter Lilley 189, 3
- Holborn and St Pancras Keir Starmer 262, 29
- Hornchurch and Upminster Angela Watkinson 151, 6
- Hornsey and Wood Green Catherine West 268, 21
- Horsham Jeremy Quin 267, 64
- Houghton and Sunderland South Bridget Phillipson 94, 16
- Hove Peter Kyle 334, 9
- Huddersfield Barry Sheerman 146, 8
- Huntingdon Jonathan Djanogly 237, 29
- Hyndburn Graham Jones 161, 17
- Ilford North Wes Streeting 105, 3
- Ilford South Mike Gapes 60, 0
- Ipswich Ben Gummer 192, 9
- Isle of Wight Andrew Turner 406, 45
- Islington North Jeremy Corbyn 241, 22
- Islington South and Finsbury Emily Thornberry 187, 23
- Jarrow Stephen Hepburn 116, 12
- Keighley Kris Hopkins 277, 54
- Kenilworth and Southam Jeremy Wright 193, 70
- Kensington Victoria Borwick 118, 263
- Kettering Philip Hollobone 151, 63
- Kingston and Surbiton James Berry 186, 11
- Kingston upon Hull East Karl Turner 104, 6
- Kingston upon Hull North Diana Johnson 133, 10
- Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle Alan Johnson 101, 7
- Kingswood Chris Skidmore 150, 9
- Knowsley George Howarth 122, 7
- Lancaster and Fleetwood Cat Smith 407, 89
- Leeds Central Hilary Benn 168, 6
- Leeds East8Richard Burgon 96, 6
- Leeds North East9Fabian Hamilton 251, 11
- Leeds North West Greg Mulholland 257, 35
- Leeds West1Rachel Reeves 185, 8
- Leicester East Keith Vaz 61, 2
- Leicester South Jonathan Ashworth 145, 2
- Leicester West Liz Kendall 101, 5
- Leigh Andy Burnham 167, 9
- Lewes Maria Caulfield 306, 70
- Lewisham East Heidi Alexander 150, 3
- Lewisham West and Penge Jim Dowd 227, 3
- Lewisham, Deptford Vicky Foxcroft 230, 7
- Leyton and Wanstead John Cryer 143, 4
- Lichfield Michael Fabricant 168, 48
- Lincoln Karl McCartney 219, 14
- Liverpool, Riverside Louise Ellman 247, 5
- Liverpool, Walton Steve Rotheram 93, 4
- Liverpool, Wavertree Luciana Berger 151, 3
- Liverpool, West Derby Stephen Twigg 106, 1
- Loughborough Nicky Morgan 186, 16
- Louth and Horncastle Victoria Atkins 236, 69
- Ludlow Philip Dunne 300, 104
- Luton North Kelvin Hopkins 81, 2
- Luton South Gavin Shuker 100, 7
- Macclesfield David Rutley 268, 70
- Maidenhead Theresa May 171, 20
- Maidstone and The Weald Helen Grant 173, 39
- Makerfield Yvonne Fovargue 144, 13
- Maldon John Whittingdale 193, 29
- Manchester Central Lucy Powell 177, 7
- Manchester, Gorton the late Gerald Kaufman 165, 2
- Manchester, Withington Jeff Smith 267, 6
- Mansfield Alan Meale 150, 18
- Meon Valley George Hollingbery 217, 82
- Meriden Caroline Spelman 140, 23
- Mid Bedfordshire Nadine Dorries 199, 60
- Mid Derbyshire Pauline Latham 225, 19
- Mid Dorset and North Poole Michael Tomlinson 208, 23
- Mid Norfolk George Freeman 281, 68
- Mid Sussex Nicholas Soames 220, 43
- Mid Worcestershire Nigel Huddleston 180, 57
- Middlesbrough Andy McDonald 66, 4
- Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Tom Blenkinsop 187, 52
- Milton Keynes North Mark Lancaster 219, 34
- Milton Keynes South Iain Stewart 170, 13
- Mitcham and Morden Siobhain McDonagh 93, 2
- Mole Valley Paul Beresford 201, 68
- Morecambe and Lunesdale David Morris 242, 43
- Morley and Outwood Andrea Jenkyns 168, 28
- New Forest East Julian Lewis 245, 56
- New Forest West Desmond Swayne 227, 39
- Newark Robert Jenrick 251, 69
- Newbury Richard Benyon 196, 188
- Newcastle upon Tyne Central Chi Onwurah 129, 20
- Newcastle upon Tyne East Nicholas Brown 182, 13
- Newcastle upon Tyne North Catherine McKinnell 135, 26
- Newcastle-under-Lyme Paul Farrelly 126, 20
- Newton Abbot Anne Marie Morris 235, 25
- Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford Yvette Cooper 147, 18
- North Cornwall Scott Mann 244, 44
- North Devon Peter Heaton-Jones 237, 56
- North Dorset Simon Hoare 275, 143
- North Durham Kevan Jones 139, 18
- North East Bedfordshire Alistair Burt 282, 47
- North East Cambridgeshire Stephen Barclay 192, 27
- North East Derbyshire Natascha Engel 213, 35
- North East Hampshire Ranil Jayawardena 196, 99
- North East Hertfordshire Oliver Heald 232, 85
- North East Somerset Jacob Rees-Mogg 253, 39
- North Herefordshire Bill Wiggin 271, 126
- North Norfolk Norman Lamb 380, 49
- North Shropshire Owen Paterson 240, 86
- North Somerset Liam Fox 294, 34
- North Swindon Justin Tomlinson 163, 24
- North Thanet Roger Gale 194, 10
- North Tyneside Mary Glindon 188, 13
- North Warwickshire Craig Tracey 112, 27
- North West Cambridgeshire Shailesh Vara 219, 50
- North West Durham Pat Glass 205, 157
- North West Hampshire Kit Malthouse 250, 206
- North West Leicestershire Andrew Bridgen 147, 51
- North West Norfolk Henry Bellingham 244, 106
- North Wiltshire James Gray 308, 146
- Northampton North Michael Ellis 130, 7
- Northampton South David Mackintosh 124, 10
- Norwich North Chloe Smith 208, 2
- Norwich South Clive Lewis 362, 6
- Nottingham East Chris Leslie 194, 2
- Nottingham North Graham Allen 99, 2
- Nottingham South Lilian Greenwood 141, 4
- Nuneaton Marcus Jones 116, 10
- Old Bexley and Sidcup James Brokenshire 106, 3
- Oldham East and Saddleworth Debbie Abrahams 150, 12
- Oldham West and Royton Jim McMahon 84, 1
- Orpington Joseph Johnson 145, 7
- Oxford East Andrew Smith 251, 8
- Oxford West and Abingdon Nicola Blackwood 296, 24
- Pendle Andrew Stephenson 231, 23
- Penistone and Stocksbridge Angela Smith 266, 69
- Penrith and The Border Rory Stewart 333, 163
- Peterborough Stewart Jackson 160, 9
- Plymouth, Moor View Johnny Mercer 115, 6
- Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport Oliver Colvile 225, 6
- Poole Robert Syms 195, 13
- Poplar and Limehouse Jim Fitzpatrick 101, 10
- Portsmouth North Penny Mordaunt 145, 4
- Portsmouth South Flick Drummond 190, 1
- Preston Mark Hendrick 130, 7
- Pudsey Stuart Andrew 218, 24
- Putney Justine Greening 159, 70
- Rayleigh and Wickford Mark Francois 156, 19
- Reading East Rob Wilson 191, 5
- Reading West Alok Sharma 148, 8
- Redcar Anna Turley 118, 17
- Redditch Karen Lumley 113, 13
- Reigate Crispin Blunt 185, 24
- Ribble Valley Nigel Evans 502, 96
- Richmond (Yorks) Rishi Sunak 323, 542
- Richmond Park Sarah Olney 259, 71
- Rochdale Simon Danczuk 127, 5
- Rochester and Strood Kelly Tolhurst 180, 17
- Rochford and Southend East James Duddridge 169, 13
- Romford Andrew Rosindell 122, 3
- Romsey and Southampton North Caroline Nokes 218, 113
- Rossendale and Darwen Jake Berry 220, 20
- Rother Valley Kevin Barron 145, 29
- Rotherham Sarah Chaion 109, 9
- Rugby Mark Pawsey 137, 18
- Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner Nick Hurd 118, 12
- Runnymede and Weybridge Philip Hammond 140, 17
- Rushcliffe Kenneth Clarke 249, 30
- Rutland and Melton Alan Duncan 273, 185
- Saffron Walden Alan Haselhurst 218, 102
- Salford and Eccles Rebecca Long Bailey 178, 0
- Salisbury John Glen 260, 110
- Scarborough and Whitby Robert Goodwill 343, 85
- Scunthorpe Nic Dakin 90, 16
- Sedgefield Phil Wilson 124, 39
- Sefton Central Bill Esterson 161, 13
- Selby and Ainsty Nigel Adams 226, 141
- Sevenoaks Michael Fallon 142, 35
- Sheffield Central Paul Blomfield 457, 13
- Sheffield South East Clive Betts 128, 9
- Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough Gill Furniss 153, 5
- Sheffield, Hallam Nick Clegg 431, 57
- Sheffield, Heeley Louise Haigh 276, 3
- Sherwood Mark Spencer 180, 39
- Shipley Philip Davies 253, 48
- Shrewsbury and Atcham Daniel Kawczynski 241, 67
- Sittingbourne and Sheppey Gordon Henderson 137, 23
- Skipton and Ripon Julian Smith 455, 384
- Sleaford and North Hykeham Caroline Johnson 251, 102
- Slough Fiona Mactaggart 83, 4
- Solihull Julian Knight 131, 7
- Somerton and Frome David Warburton 345, 132
- South Basildon and East Thurrock Stephen Metcalfe 13, 9
- South Cambridgeshire Heidi Allen 339, 87
- South Derbyshire Heather Wheeler 186, 37
- South Dorset Richard Drax 248, 28
- South East Cambridgeshire Lucy Frazer 296, 83
- South East Cornwall Sheryll Murray 243, 38
- South Holland and The Deepings John Hayes 146, 39
- South Leicestershire Alberto Costa 149, 30
- South Norfolk Richard Bacon 313, 61
- South Northamptonshire Andrea Leadsom 220, 113
- South Ribble Seema Kennedy 192, 61
- South Shields Emma Lewell-Buck 125, 11
- South Staffordshire Gavin Williamson 166, 21
- South Suffolk James Cartlidge 223, 94
- South Swindon Robert Buckland 193, 28
- South Thanet Craig Mackinlay 224, 19
- South West Bedfordshire Andrew Selous 176, 19
- South West Devon Gary Streeter 198, 24
- South West Hertfordshire David Gauke 220, 38
- South West Norfolk Elizabeth Truss 235, 49
- South West Surrey Jeremy Hunt 297, 65
- South West Wiltshire Andrew Murrison 263, 190
- Southampton, Itchen Royston Smith 190, 11
- Southampton, Test Alan Whitehead 193, 4
- Southend West David Amess 152, 9
- Southport John Pugh 177, 13
- Spelthorne Kwasi Kwarteng 115, 9
- St Albans Anne Main 205, 32
- St Austell and Newquay Steve Double 234, 24
- St Helens North Conor McGinn 126, 7
- St Helens South and Whiston Marie Rimmer 139, 7
- St Ives Derek Thomas 340, 36
- Stafford Jeremy Lefroy 180, 26
- Staffordshire Moorlands Karen Bradley 215, 41
- Stalybridge and Hyde Jonathan Reynolds 212, 17
- Stevenage Stephen McPartland 156, 10
- Stockport Ann Coffey 176, 1
- Stockton North Alex Cunningham 114, 17
- Stockton South James Wharton 133, 18
- Stoke-on-Trent Central Gareth Snell 102, 4
- Stoke-on-Trent North Ruth Smeeth 113, 5
- Stoke-on-Trent South Robert Flello 106, 8
- Stone William Cash 163, 59
- Stourbridge Margot James 125, 8
- Stratford-on-Avon Nadhim Zahawi 178, 105
- Streatham Chuka Umunna 188, 61
- Stretford and Urmston Kate Green 213, 1
- Stroud Neil Carmichael 403, 91
- Suffolk Coastal Thérèse Coffey 370, 84
- Sunderland Central Julie Elliott 162, 11
- Surrey Heath Michael Gove 155, 32
- Sutton and Cheam Paul Scully 111, 5
- Sutton Coldfield Andrew Mitchell 124, 8
- Tamworth Christopher Pincher 139, 20
- Tatton George Osborne 215, 54
- Taunton Deane Rebecca Pow 292, 62
- Telford Lucy Allan 135, 12
- Tewkesbury Laurence Robertson 190, 69
- The Cotswolds Geoffrey Clifton-Brown 288, 347
- The Wrekin Mark Pritchard 155, 43
- Thirsk and Malton Kevin Hollinrake 384, 393
- Thornbury and Yate Luke Hall 172, 42
- Thurrock Jackie Doyle-Price 123, 6
- Tiverton and Honiton Neil Parish 288, 76
- Tonbridge and Malling Tom Tugendhat 208, 50
- Tooting Rosena Allin-Khan 137, 122
- Torbay Kevin Foster 198, 6
- Torridge and West Devon Geoffrey Cox 361, 55
- Totnes Sarah Wollaston 352, 30
- Tottenham David Lammy 134, 2
- Truro and Falmouth Sarah Newton 300, 27
- Tunbridge Wells Greg Clark 172, 50
- Twickenham Tania Mathias 261, 11
- Tynemouth Alan Campbell 226, 9
- Uxbridge and South Ruislip Boris Johnson 96, 5
- Vauxhall Kate Hoey 165, 97
- Wakefield Mary Creagh 155, 17
- Wallasey Angela Eagle 181, 4
- Walsall North David Winnick 82, 5
- Walsall South Valerie Vaz 82, 5
- Walthamstow Stella Creasy 195, 9
- Wansbeck Ian Lavery 138, 33
- Wantage Edward Vaizey 264, 189
- Warley John Spellar 66, 2
- Warrington North Helen Jones 155, 10
- Warrington South David Mowat 166, 23
- Warwick and Leamington Chris White 225, 28
- Washington and Sunderland West Sharon Hodgson 105, 8
- Watford Richard Harrington 203, 5
- Waveney Peter Aldous 252, 23
- Wealden Nusrat Ghani 274, 89
- Weaver Vale Graham Evans 169, 17
- Wellingborough Peter Bone 169, 11
- Wells James Heappey 346, 41
- Welwyn Hatfield Grant Shapps 176, 17
- Wentworth and Dearne John Healey 123, 33
- West Bromwich East Tom Watson 68, 4
- West Bromwich West Adrian Bailey 64, 2
- West Dorset Oliver Letwin 337, 123
- West Ham Lyn Brown 98, 2
- West Lancashire Rosie Cooper 181, 28
- West Suffolk Matt Hancock 230, 102
- West Worcestershire Harriett Baldwin 259, 83
- Westminster North Karen Buck 118, 69
- Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron 429, 98
- Weston-super-Mare John Penrose 221, 22
- Wigan Lisa Nandy 139, 14
- Wimbledon Stephen Hammond 162, 32
- Winchester Steve Brine 268, 99
- Windsor Adam Afriyie 152, 47
- Wirral South Alison McGovern 142, 8
- Wirral West Margaret Greenwood 159, 7
- Witham Priti Patel 168, 44
- Witney Robert Courts 271, 194
- Woking Jonathan Lord 196, 20
- Wokingham John Redwood 165, 37
- Wolverhampton North East Emma Reynolds 76, 4
- Wolverhampton South East Pat McFadden 55, 4
- Wolverhampton South West Rob Marris 116, 2
- Worcester Robin Walker 178, 19
- Workington Sue Hayman 187, 26
- Worsley and Eccles South Barbara Keeley 132, 3
- Worthing West Peter Bottomley 229, 5
- Wycombe Steve Baker 171, 50
- Wyre and Preston North Ben Wallace 226, 52
- Wyre Forest Mark Garnier 222, 20
- Wythenshawe and Sale East Mike Kane 163, 6
- Yeovil Marcus Fysh 248, 57
- York Central Rachael Maskell 358, 18
- York Outer Julian Sturdy 263, 52
Northern Ireland:
- Belfast East Gavin Robinson 96, 12
- Belfast North Nigel Dodds 69, 4
- Belfast South Alasdair McDonnell 127, 11
- Belfast West Paul Maskey 34, 4
- East Antrim Sammy Wilson 81, 14
- East Londonderry Gregory Cabell 62, 17
- Fermanagh and South Tyrone Tom Elliott 43, 24
- Foyle Mark Durkan 39, 4
- Lagan Valley Jeffrey M. Donaldson 79, 21
- Mid Ulster Francie Molloy 31, 23
- Newry and Armagh Mickey Brady 25, 16
- North Antrim Ian Paisley 63, 24
- North Down Lady Hermon 92, 12
- South Antrim Danny Kinahan 89, 17
- South Down Ms Margaret Ritchie 76, 25
- Strangford Jim Shannon 72, 22
- Upper Bann David Sison 63, 17
- West Tyrone Pat Doherty 34, 9
Scotland:
- Aberdeen North Kirsty Blackman 174, 14
- Aberdeen South Callum McCaig 201, 45
- Airdrie and Shotts Neil Gray 68, 11
- Angus Mike Weir 220, 238
- Argyll and Bute Brendan O’Hara 410, 82
- Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Corri Wilson 154, 40
- Banff and Buchan Eilidh Whiteford 185, 54
- Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Calum Kerr 286, 265
- Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Paul Monaghan 216, 120
- Central Ayrshire Philippa Whitford 136, 15
- Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill Philip Boswell 95, 8
- Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East Stuart C. McDonald 170, 10
- Dumfries and Galloway Richard Arkless 330, 104
- Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale David Mundell 301, 178
- Dundee East Stewart Hosie 182, 26
- Dundee West Chris Law 157, 22
- Dunfermline and West Fife Douglas Chapman 191, 26
- East Dunbartonshire John Nicolson 162, 6
- East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow Lisa Cameron 169, 22
- East Lothian George Kerevan 297, 124
- East Renfrewshire Kirsten Oswald 117, 11
- Edinburgh East Tommy Sheppard 349, 10
- Edinburgh North and Leith Deidre Brock 420, 117
- Edinburgh South Ian Murray 302, 33
- Edinburgh South West Joanna Cherry 241, 10
- Edinburgh West Michelle Thomson 191, 40
- Falkirk John Mc Nally 189, 31
- Glasgow Central Alison Thewliss 224, 12
- Glasgow East Natalie McGarry 92, 3
- Glasgow North Patrick Grady 248, 12
- Glasgow North East Anne McLaughlin 104, 1
- Glasgow North West Carol Monaghan 166, 2
- Glasgow South Stewart Malcolm McDonald 203, 4
- Glasgow South West Chris Stephens 97, 1
- Glenrothes Peter Grant 125, 29
- Gordon Alex Salmond 225, 86
- Inverclyde Ronnie Cowan 133, 8
- Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Drew Hendry 477, 307
- Kilmarnock and Loudoun Alan Brown 137, 31
- Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath Roger Mullin 210, 24
- Lanark and Hamilton East Angela Crawley 139, 35
- Linlithgow and East Falkirk Martyn Day 238, 42
- Livingston Hannah Bardell 171, 18
- Midlothian Owen Thompson 190, 73
- Moray Angus Robertson 291, 132
- Motherwell and Wishaw Marion Fellows 67, 12
- Na h-Eileanan an Iar Angus Brendan MacNeil 80, 24
- North Ayrshire and Arran Patricia Gibson 202, 18
- North East Fife Stephen Gethins 268, 96
- Ochil and South Perthshire Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh 310, 177
- Orkney and Shetland Alistair Carmichael 215, 20
- Paisley and Renfrewshire North Gavin Newlands 117, 14
- Paisley and Renfrewshire South Mhairi Black 149, 13
- Perth and North Perthshire Pete Wishart 291, 311
- Ross, Skye and Lochaber Ian Blackford 510, 121
- Rutherglen and Hamilton West Margaret Ferrier 124, 4
- Stirling Steven Paterson 287, 101
- West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Stuart Blair Donaldson 307, 319
- West Dunbartonshire Martin Docherty-Hughes 121, 23
Wales:
- Aberavon Stephen Kinnock 73, 4
- Aberconwy Guto Bebb 200, 18
- Alyn and Deeside Mark Tami 131, 18
- Arfon Hywel Williams 215, 9
- Blaenau Gwent Nick Smith 97, 7
- Brecon and Radnorshire Chris Davies 244, 70
- Bridgend Madeleine Moon 137, 4
- Caerphilly Wayne David 124, 11
- Cardiff Central Jo Stevens 149, 7
- Cardiff North Craig Williams 164, 7
- Cardiff South and Penarth Stephen Doughty 185, 11
- Cardiff West Kevin Brennan 190, 3
- Carmarthen East and Dinefwr Jonathan Edwards 204, 29
- Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Simon Hart 180, 30
- Ceredigion Mark Williams 312, 29
- Clwyd South Susan Elan Jones 157, 45
- Clwyd West David Jones 187, 35
- Cynon Valley Ann Clwyd 84, 9
- Delyn David Hanson 142, 30
- Dwyfor Meirionnydd Liz Saville Roberts 191, 30
- Gower Byron Davies 128, 15
- Islwyn Chris Evans 85, 5
- Llanelli Nia Griffith 130, 10
- Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney Gerald Jones 87, 1
- Monmouth David T. C. Davies 248, 62
- Montgomeryshire Glyn Davies 255, 51
- Neath Christina Rees 123, 14
- Newport East Jessica Morden 93, 8
- Newport West Paul Flynn 113, 9
- Ogmore Chris Elmore 92, 8
- Pontypridd Owen Smith 116, 7
- Preseli Pembrokeshire Stephen Crabb 212, 21
- Rhondda Chris Bryant 74, 4
- Swansea East Carolyn Harris 71, 7
- Swansea West Geraint Davies 134, 8
- Torfaen Nick Thomas-Symonds 98, 6
- Vale of Clwyd James Davies 123, 22
- Vale of Glamorgan Alun Cairns 180, 35
- Wrexham Ian C. Lucas 90, 4
- Ynys Môn Albert Owen 183, 21
It takes quite a lot of time and effort to produce these 650 pairs of figures and colour them in by political party – there may be one or two mistakes and I’d be grateful if you could point out any I have missed so that I can correct them. Many thanks.
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Sad to see that my constituency of Thirsk and Malton is one of the baddies.
Paul – you could regard them as the dirty dozen. Very close in Thirsk and Malton though wasn’t it?
Care to tell how you obtained the figures for Copeland?
Trudy Harrison has only been elected the Conservative MP for the constituency, a matter of days! Yet it appears you’re crediting her with the figures of 200 – 45, which is incorrect!
I would suggest the figures you quoted were obtained when the previous MP Jamie Reed, held the constituency for Labour, and you should acknowledge that fact.
James – the figures come from the parliament website.
I’m not crediting any MP with anything – though these are the current MPs for these constituencies and if anyone wanted to write to their MP these would be the people to whom to write. You’ll see that Stoke-on-Trent Central is up to date and that I have adjusted the Manchester Gorton line given the sad news today of the passing of Gerald Kaufmann.
Batley and Spen? Richmond Park?
“It takes quite a loty of time and effort to produce these 650 pairs of figures and colour them in by political party – there may be one or two mistakes and I’d be grateful if you could point out any I have missed so that I can correct them. Many thanks.”
As requested, I’ve pointed out a mistake. The figures quoted do not reflect a true picture of public opinion since a by election, where the views of an incoming MP may differ greatly than their predecessor, and therefore influence public opinion differently either way, especially where a poll is concerned.
Whichever way you look at it, the figures quoted bear no relation to any view Trudy Harrison MP may have on the subject, and are based solely on whatever the previous MP had to say on the matter in order to influence his followers.
James – you seem to misunderstand what is going on here. Never mind.
At the end of the day, you failed but you won’t accept the fact and let the matter drop.
James – at the end of the day people are talking seriously about banning an environmentally damaging hobby which is underpinned by wildlife crime – and they weren’t two years ago.
But I won’t let the matter drop so just get used to it. Driven grouse shooting’s days are numbered because we, not just I, have shone a light on its faults and there is no going back.
You have a nice little nap, but it isn’t the end of the day, and we are still active.
Certainly not letting the matter drop in our household – spreading the word and it’s being well received. The evidence against driven grouse shooting is building all the time, as is public awareness. Still, the more the driven grouse shooters are complacent and think they’ve won, the better for us all.
James,
I’m guessing your a regular consumer of lead shot game, by regular I mean twice daily, seven days a week?
My MP, James Gray, has already told me that his definition of democracy does not include representing the majority of his constituents if their position does not coincide with his personal viewpoint. hence his support for the badger cull, opposition to the Hunting with Hounds Act and support for the shooting lobby.
Your MP is quite right. We live in a representative democracy, where he is the representative, but not the delegate, of his constituents.
If you don’t like his views, you can always try and vote him out.
Quite right Lazywell.
‘Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.’ Edmund Burke
Ernest/Lazywell – indeed – but he/she does need to use his/her judgement.
Agreed.
Moral courage is an essential quality for that judgement to be exercised. How many MP’s on both sides of the House voted to trigger Article 50, believing it to be a disastrous move for future generations, but necessary to preserve their political careers? Too many Liz Trusses and not enough Ken Clarke’s..
Also helps if they turn up and speak…
Despite all the time and effort you spent producing this schedule, not to mention colouring it in, you curiously omitted to acknowledge just how few of your putative parliamentary supporters contributed to the debate.
Lazywell – I think we have already covered that, for example here https://markavery.info/2017/02/15/29534/
I agree that it would have been even more fun had the opposition turned up in greater numbers!
But I wonder whether you would agree that it was shocking that those Tory MPs who spoke did not acknowledge the scale of wildlife crime which underpins driven grouse shooting. Wouldn’t you have thought that a bunch of Old Etonians would have been rather more honest? Maybe not…
James Whyte – I think you’re missing the whole point of this (and indeed the petitions system). It’s a mechanism to show MPs what their constituents think. If compared to their voting performance (on relevant issues) it serves as a useful indicator of how well MPs reflect their constituent views.
It is also a mechanism which MPs can use to influence constituents.
How would an MP use a petition to influence constituents? Sign it?
If it results in a debate that’s a different matter and they can then show their colours as many have done in this case.
But the petition itself is just respondent numbers and constituencies, which Mark has factually listed.
The only thing that was epic was the size of lies and misinformation that you made to the public and the Parliamentary Committee.
The whitewash that was the Parliamentary Committee debate was pretty epic too. Simon Hart interrogating Liam Stokes over something they already take the same stance on was laughable.
Any Norman, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be trashing Chris Packham’s FB page with your mates?
Oh dear, my constituency (West Aberdeenshire) is part of the dirty dozen, but it was a close run thing (with a high “turnout”. It would be nice to see a few hen harriers around, along with the proper number of peregrines, goshawks and golden eagles.
I’m quite surprised at there only being 4 respondents in favour of maintaining DGS in my constituency, especially as it contains the headquarters of one a large shooting organisation, I guess those 4 signatures came from staff members of that organisation.
Anthony – yes, BASC clearly aren’t really bothered. Or given the nonsense she spoke in the debate, maybe they all live next door in the Eddisbury constituency of Antoinette Sandbach.
You may be correct, but we will never certainly know.
I’ve had another look through the debate transcript for the Rt. Hon. Member’s comments. Good of them to mention getting information from peer reviewed papers, however it all seems kind of pointless if citations are not given.
Quite right Lazywell.
‘Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.’ Edmund Burke
Pity that they can take that attitude towards grouse shooting but not over Brexit.
Interesting, isn’t it, how all those ‘true country people’ living in the heart of London are so in favour of driven grouse shooting and its attendant trashing of much of our moorland wildlife!