Basildon & Billericay / data
Mr Richard Holden · Conservative and Unionist Party · sitting since 12 Dec 2019 · every division, speech and committee appearance.
Since election
2325days
from 12 Dec 2019
Divisions
350
of 504 possible
Attendance
69%
154 absent / paired
Whip alignment
100%
vs party majority
Speeches
128
61 debates
Written Qs
2,833
2,640 answered
Committees
0
memberships
Expenses
£339k paid
FY 2024–2025 · 163 claims
Interests
4
2 categories
A · Overview
Issue volume
Top issues by total divisions voted — engagement only, not direction.
| Issue | Volume | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Taxation | 87 | |
| Economy | 68 | |
| Employment | 40 | |
| Crime & Policing | 35 | |
| Education | 28 | |
| Constitution and Democracy | 24 | |
| Housing | 21 | |
| Defence and Foreign Affairs | 18 |
Speech topics
Words spoken, by topic. Source: Hansard.
| Topic | Debates | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Transport | 19 | 11,920 |
| Economy Jobs | 29 | 11,723 |
| Local Government | 17 | 6,763 |
| Environment | 10 | 5,962 |
| Fiscal Policy | 12 | 5,664 |
| Cost Of Living | 7 | 5,599 |
| Crime | 9 | 5,095 |
| Health | 8 | 4,527 |
B · Notable divisions
Free votes, rebellions and high-salience whipped votes — the moments that distinguish this MP from the party machine. The full division-by-division record will follow once the per-MP archive is wired.
No notable votes recorded for this MP yet.
C · Speeches
| Date | Contribution | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Apr 2026 | Draft Train Driving Licences and Certificates (Amendment) Regulations 2026It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. Today, the Minister will be pleased to know that the Opposition are fully and wholly supportive of his meas… TransportLabour MarketEconomy Jobs | 801 |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Transport Accessibility for Disabled PeopleThe hon. Lady makes an important point. I will add, though, that disabled people often choose to use a car, if one is available, because it is the most convenient means of getting … TransportSocial Care | 261 |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Passenger Rail ServicesIt is clear that the Minister is not prepared to agree with the Secretary of State, so I ask him whether he agrees with himself. In an answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Broad… TransportEconomy JobsFiscal Policy | 77 |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Transport Accessibility for Disabled PeopleI think the hon. Member should reflect on the fact that he voted last week for a policy that hammers those rural transport users more than anyone else, not at some theoretical time… TransportSocial Care | 863 |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Transport Accessibility for Disabled PeopleOver the past few decades there has been a consensus in politics that disability should not prevent people from living fulfilling and successful lives. However, I recognise that, d… TransportSocial Care | 587 |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Passenger Rail ServicesWe still do not know how or what the Government want to achieve with state control of the railways. They say that there will be simpler fares, but the public are seeing simply more… TransportEconomy JobsFiscal Policy | 158 |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Topical QuestionsIn September last year, the Secretary of State told the House: “I know the importance of the fuel duty freeze”.—[Official Report, 11 September 2025; Vol. 772, c. 1031.] That was wh… TransportLocal GovernmentEconomy Jobs | 53 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyMy hon. Friend is right, and some of those tax rises are hitting many of the companies that will also be hit by these fuel duty rises. I have spoken to hauliers, in my constituency… Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 62 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyI am sorry, but I need to make a little more progress, but I will happily come back to my hon. Friend later. However we travel, Labour is after us. Is it a boat? Is it a train? Is … Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 312 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyI could not agree more with the hon. Member. We need to get back to drilling in the North sea. Norway is drilling on one side of the same basin and getting the benefit of those job… Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 83 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyIt is not often that I agree with an SNP spokesperson, but I very much do so today. The hon. Member makes an incredibly important point. The Labour party came to office talking abo… Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 135 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyI will give way. Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 4 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyOf course not, Mr Speaker. The right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Ed Miliband) should always be given his proper title. This is very similar to the Government’s pathetic intran… Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 144 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyMy hon. Friend is entirely right. She is also a real champion for the North sea oil and gas sector, which is largely based in her constituency. What are we seeing on top of those t… Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 202 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyMy hon. Friend makes the really important point that this is about choices. She is also right that many people do not have such a choice about their cars, and nobody has a choice a… Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 303 |
D · Written questions
Top departments
| Department | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Department for Transport | 980 | 34.6% |
| Cabinet Office | 748 | 26.4% |
| Treasury | 175 | 6.2% |
| Department of Health and Social Care | 126 | 4.4% |
| Department for Business and Trade | 107 | 3.8% |
| Department for Education | 99 | 3.5% |
| Home Office | 72 | 2.5% |
| Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | 71 | 2.5% |
Most recent
| Date | Department | Question | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Apr 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2026 to Question 120039 on Department for Transport: Aviation, what the purpose was of the flight to Lebanon; which Ministers and senior officials approved the… | Pending |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2026 to Question 120039 on Department for Transport: Aviation, what the purpose was of the flight to Colombia; which Ministers and senior officials approved the… | Pending |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2026 to Question 125015 on Immobilisation of Vehicles, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of immobilisation devices unlawfully removed from vehicles. | Pending |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2026 to Question 125029 on Department for Transport: Annual Reports, in respect of the £398 million Capital DEL expenditure attributed to the Decarbonisation, T… | Pending |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average number of days taken by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to reach a licensing decision was in cases where a medical condition required investigation, in each month from Ja… | Pending |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2026 to Question 120039 on Department for Transport: Aviation, what the purpose was of each flight to Netherlands Antilles; which Ministers and senior officials… | Pending |
| 20 Apr 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the current revenue to the Exchequer of VAT from pilot training; and what would the estimated net cost to the Exchequer be of removing VAT from pilot training. | Pending |
| 20 Apr 2026 | Department for Education | To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons the National Vocational Qualification for Pilots was removed in 1999 and what consideration has been made of introducing a new qualification that is not subject to VAT for pilot… | Pending |
| 20 Apr 2026 | Department for Education | To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out (a) which modern foreign languages are currently available as GCSE and A level qualifications in England; (b) which European languages are not currently available as GCSE or A… | Pending |
| 20 Apr 2026 | Home Office | To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people aged 18 and over immigrated to the UK in each year from 2022 to 2025 from (a) Pakistan, (b) Kuwait, (c) Afghanistan, (d) Qatar, (e) the United Arab Emirates, (f) Sudan,… | Pending |
| 16 Apr 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the monthly average waiting time was for a car practical driving test at each driving test centre and zone for a) March and b) April 2026. | Pending |
| 16 Apr 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2026 to Question 126073, when the forthcoming guidance from Active Travel England will be published. | Pending |
| 16 Apr 2026 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the consultation on licensing domestic rescue and rehoming organisations will be launched; and what her planned timetable is for its conclusion and response. | Pending |
| 16 Apr 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2026 to Question 118274 on M1: Repairs and Maintenance, whether the roadworks on the M1 northbound between junctions 12 and 13 have been completed. | Pending |
| 16 Apr 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2026 to Question 117050 on A34: Safety, whether the road marking renewal works on the A34 from Chieveley to the M40 have now been completed; and if she will pro… | Pending |
E · Committees
No committee memberships recorded for this MP.
F · Expenses
Every business-cost claim reimbursed by IPSA in the current financial year, grouped by category. “Aggregated” rows are IPSA’s own year-end totals for cost types like payroll and rent that aren’t itemised claim-by-claim.
Category breakdown
| Category | Claims | Paid (£) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office Costs | 100 | 42,603 | 12.6% |
| Staffing | 2 | 234,964 | 69.2% |
| Miscellaneous | 38 | 22,688 | 6.7% |
| Accommodation | 4 | 32,309 | 9.5% |
| MP Travel | 0 | 2,720 | 0.8% |
| Staff Travel | 0 | 4,124 | 1.2% |
Top itemised cost types
| Cost type | Category | Claims | Paid (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment - purchase | Office Costs | 31 | 6,727 |
| Utilities | Office Costs | 9 | 6,727 |
| Pooled staffing services | Staffing | 2 | 5,263 |
| Stationery & printing | Office Costs | 23 | 5,217 |
| Utilities | Miscellaneous | 37 | 2,872 |
| Utilities | Accommodation | 2 | 1,742 |
| Business rates | Office Costs | 3 | 1,709 |
| Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | Office Costs | 4 | 1,691 |
| Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Office Costs | 6 | 1,685 |
| Software & applications | Office Costs | 7 | 1,412 |
| Removals | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1,394 |
| Council tax | Accommodation | 1 | 933 |
Most recent
| Date | Category | Description | Paid (£) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Apr 2025 | Office Costs Business rates | Part refund of business rates claim 60253345:9 | 0 | Repaid |
| 15 Mar 2025 | Miscellaneous Utilities | Electricity | 200 | Paid |
| 21 Feb 2025 | Miscellaneous Utilities | Electricity | 214 | Paid |
| 21 Feb 2025 | Miscellaneous Utilities | Electricity | 49 | Paid |
| 14 Feb 2025 | Miscellaneous Utilities | Electricity | 135 | Paid |
| 14 Feb 2025 | Miscellaneous Utilities | Electricity | 62 | Paid |
| 14 Feb 2025 | Miscellaneous Utilities | Electricity | 54 | Paid |
| 31 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | Window cleaning for constituency office | 65 | Paid |
| 17 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Utilities | Gas | 108 | Paid |
| 16 Dec 2024 | Office Costs Software & applications | ELECTED TECHNOLOGIES [200011804-94] | 211 | Paid |
| 10 Dec 2024 | Office Costs Utilities | Electricity | 377 | Paid |
| 10 Dec 2024 | Office Costs Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection | BASILDON DC | 173 | Paid |
| 04 Dec 2024 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Other office equipment | 26 | Paid |
| 02 Dec 2024 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | RYMAN 1036 | 29 | Paid |
| 26 Nov 2024 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | CRYSTAL SIGN AND PRINT | 80 | Paid |
| 25 Nov 2024 | Accommodation Utilities | Dual Fuel | 221 | Paid |
| 21 Nov 2024 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Sundries | 4 | Paid |
| 20 Nov 2024 | Office Costs Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Landline & internet package | 302 | Paid |
| 20 Nov 2024 | Office Costs Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Landline & internet package | 94 | Paid |
| 13 Nov 2024 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | XMA December 2024 | 325 | Paid |
G · Register of interests
Every financial interest declared by the MP, grouped under the Register’s official categories. Retracted entries are hidden but counted above.
4. Visits outside the UK3 entries
24 Mar 2026
Name of donor: UK Friends of Ukraine
Address of donor: 62 Lots Road, London SW10 0QD
Estimate of the probable value (or amount of any donation): Coach travel from Moldova to Ukraine and within Ukraine (£223.94), Chernobyl Visit (£46.15), meals and sundry items (£88.83), value £350.72
Destination of visit: Ukraine (Odessa, Kyiv, Chernobyl) and Moldova
Dates of visit: 20 February 2026 to 25 February 2026
Purpose of visit: Gain a greater understanding of the continuing impact of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and the continuing war.
(Registered 18 March 2026)
13 May 2025
Name of donor: United Nations. UN Population Fund via the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and as per its APPG Register
Address of donor: United Nations Population Fund, 605 3rd Avenue, New York NY, 10158
Estimate of the probable value (or amount of any donation): Flights & visa (£1,241.60), accommodation (£486.41), other travel (£79.28), meals (£371.13), per diem & misc. (£203.03), value £2,381.45
Destination of visit: Kenya (Nairobi, Homa Bay)
Dates of visit: 8 April 2025 to 13 April 2025
Purpose of visit: Study tour on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and International Development
(Registered 9 May 2025)
29 Apr 2025
Name of donor: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
Address of donor: 42 Essex Street, London WC2R 3JF
Estimate of the probable value (or amount of any donation): Flights (economy): £258, Transfers: £75.67, Accommodation: 306.07, Meals: £86.72, value £727.26
Destination of visit: Italy
Dates of visit: 4 April 2025 to 6 April 2025
Purpose of visit: Meeting with newly re-elected and newly elected members of CDU and CSU from the German Parliament at the Accademia Konrad Adenauer
(Registered 28 April 2025)
8. Miscellaneous1 entry
22 Jan 2025
Executive Committee Member of the British-American Parliamentary Group. This is an unpaid role.
Date interest arose: 30 October 2024
(Registered 9 January 2025)
H · Ward results
Ward-level results have not yet been ingested for this constituency.
I · Demographics
| Indicator | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2021 Census) | 111,231 | Electorate 76,873 (2024) |
| Median age | 38 | years |
| Degree-educated | 25.5% | level 4 or above |
| Ethnicity (White) | 87.1% | 2021 Census ethnic group |
| Owner-occupied | 62.7% | households |
| Private-rented | 13.5% | households |
| Social-rented | 23.7% | households |
| Employment rate | 59.7% | 16-64 in work |
J · Public spending
HMT publishes headline spending identifiable by region in PESA. Constituency-level capital allocations (Levelling-Up Fund, Towns Fund, UKSPF, transport capital, BEIS R&D) are published as separate departmental datasets. We are evaluating the cleanest reconciliation for a per-constituency view.