Official portrait of Sir Edward Leigh

Sir Edward Leigh

Conservative MP for Gainsborough, since 9 June 1983

The Rt Hon Sir Edward Leigh is the Conservative MP for Gainsborough, and has been an MP continually since 9 June 1983. He is Father of the House of Commons.

Scorecard

62.7% Attendance Below the median of MPs who vote
365 Votes cast out of 590 divisions, plus 5 as teller
220 No vote recorded absent, abstaining, paired or unable to attend
0 Against their own party divisions where they voted the other way to most Conservative MPs
3 Interests declared none at £5,000 or more
1789 Debates spoken in 333 written questions tabled

Ranked 478 of 638 MPs for attendance. The median of MPs who vote is 72.4%. Ministers and front-benchers vote less often than backbenchers for reasons of office rather than absenteeism, and Parliament does not publish reasons for any absence — the ranking is a starting point for a question, not an answer to one.

Voting record

590 divisions since they took their seat, newest first.

DateQuestionTheir voteResult
11 Sep 2026 Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading No 270–286
11 Sep 2026 Closure motion No 293–218
10 Sep 2026 Social Housing Bill [Lords]: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading Aye 77–292
9 Sep 2026 Draft Plant Health, Seeds, Seed Potatoes and Plant Propagating Material (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 deferred division No vote 371–100
8 Sep 2026 Health Bill: Report Stage: Amendment 1 No vote 162–297
8 Sep 2026 Health Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 143 No vote 106–302
8 Sep 2026 Health Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 142 No vote 108–357
8 Sep 2026 Health Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 140 No vote 79–300
7 Sep 2026 Health Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 145 Aye 170–316
7 Sep 2026 Health Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 6 No vote 77–317
4 Sep 2026 Motion to sit in private No vote 1–79
2 Sep 2026 Representation of the People Bill: Third Reading No 411–102
2 Sep 2026 Representation of the People Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 88 No 85–427
2 Sep 2026 Representation of the People Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 67 Aye 105–410
2 Sep 2026 Representation of the People Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 65 Aye 166–346
15 Jul 2026 Draft Code of Practice on Electronic and Workplace Ballots for Statutory Trade Union Ballots deferred division No 330–109
15 Jul 2026 Draft Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026 deferred division No 330–109
14 Jul 2026 Public Office (Accountability) Bill Report Stage: Amendment 19 No vote 104–412
14 Jul 2026 Public Office (Accountability) Bill Report Stage: Amendment 199 No vote 102–409
14 Jul 2026 Public Office (Accountability) Bill Report Stage: Amendment 3 No vote 93–323
13 Jul 2026 Immigration and Asylum Bill: Second Reading No vote 264–90
13 Jul 2026 Immigration and Asylum Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading Aye 97–358
8 Jul 2026 Draft Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026 deferred division No 283–182
8 Jul 2026 Draft Supply of Machinery (Safety) (Amendment etc.) and the EU Machinery Regulation (Enforcement etc. in Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 deferred division No 317–103
8 Jul 2026 Draft Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (Establishment of Schools) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026 deferred division No 369–102

Declared financial interests

Quoted in full from the Register of Members' Financial Interests. Entries where the largest figure is £5,000 or more are marked. A declaration is not a wrongdoing — the register exists precisely so that these things are visible.

4. Visits outside the UK

Name of donor: (1) APPG Italy (2) Italian Inter Parliamentary Union
Address of donor: (1) House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA (2) Piazza Montecitorio, 00186 ROMA
Estimate of the probable value (or amount of any donation): (1) Meals for myself and my staff member (£180.58), taxis for myself and my staff member (56.60), value £237.18 (2) Tour of the Colosseum for myself and my staff memeber (£113.20) and lunch for myself (£47.76), value £160.96
Destination of visit: Italy (Rome)
Dates of visit: 5 October 2025 to 8 October 2025
Purpose of visit: Fostering closer relations between Italy and the United Kingdom
(Registered 3 November 2025)

On the register since 4 Nov 2025

8. Miscellaneous

Barrister, not currently practising.
(Registered 22 May 2015)

On the register since 18 Apr 2024

9. Family members employed and paid from parliamentary expenses

Name: Mary Leigh
Relationship: Spouse
Role: Office Manager
Working pattern: Full time

On the register since 18 Apr 2024

The same register on parliament.uk →

Debates

1789 debates contributed to in total. The ten most recent:

Money declared to them

No donations to this member appear on the Electoral Commission's register for this Parliament. Only donations above the statutory thresholds have to be declared, and the match is made on name — search the register directly if you are checking a specific one.

Where the public money goes — contracts and donations →


Sources: Commons Votes API, Members API and the Register of Members' Financial Interests, all published by Parliament under the Open Parliament Licence; donations from the Electoral Commission's register. This member's register and debate record were last refreshed 1 Oct 2026. How every figure is worked out →

Machine-readable: JSON for this MP.

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