Basildon and Billericay.

Holden voted this week to refer Prime Minister Starmer to the Privileges Committee over the Mandelson appointment -- a high-profile opposition move that consumed significant parliamentary time. He also voted consistently against the government on the English Devolution Bill, backing Lords amendments at every turn, and opposed the government's reserve power to direct pension fund investments, putting him on the side of the Lords after they stripped that provision three times. None of these votes broke with his party; they reflect standard Conservative opposition activity. What is more distinctive is his stance profile: he scores 75% on pension protection votes against a Conservative party average of 39% -- a 36-point gap that makes pension policy his clearest deviation from the parliamentary party's centre of gravity.

Holden votes with the Conservatives 100% of the time -- a perfect party-line record across 358 votes, which is a participation rate of 70%, slightly below the Commons average. His speeches concentrate on the economy, local government, fiscal policy, health, and transport. He aligns strongly with pro-business, tough-on-crime, and anti-tax-increase positions, while sitting well below his party's average on welfare expansion and criminal justice reform. No committee roles are recorded.

The context worth knowing: Holden was previously Conservative Party chairman before losing his North West Durham seat and was selected for Basildon and Billericay ahead of the 2024 election, a process that drew sharp criticism from local Conservative members and national press coverage framing it as a parachute appointment. That coverage was strongly negative. More recently, local reporting has been broadly neutral, with one positive story about his intervention over dangerous parking outside a primary school. Speech and voting data are available; detailed local casework data are not.