Bolton West / data
Phil Brickell · Labour Party · sitting since 04 Jul 2024 · every division, speech and committee appearance.
Since election
659days
from 04 Jul 2024
Divisions
394
of 504 possible
Attendance
78%
110 absent / paired
Whip alignment
100%
vs party majority
Speeches
299
121 debates
Written Qs
171
166 answered
Committees
1
memberships
Expenses
£180k paid
FY 2024–2025 · 96 claims
Interests
2
2 categories
A · Overview
Issue volume
Top issues by total divisions voted — engagement only, not direction.
| Issue | Volume | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Taxation | 83 | |
| Economy | 60 | |
| Crime & Policing | 47 | |
| Employment | 34 | |
| Education | 32 | |
| Constitution and Democracy | 24 | |
| Welfare and Benefits | 21 | |
| Schools | 20 |
Speech topics
Words spoken, by topic. Source: Hansard.
| Topic | Debates | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Economy Jobs | 40 | 15,657 |
| Crime | 18 | 12,580 |
| Fiscal Policy | 16 | 10,190 |
| Defence | 31 | 8,098 |
| Social Care | 16 | 5,700 |
| Health | 15 | 5,503 |
| Technology | 7 | 3,407 |
| Labour Market | 6 | 3,325 |
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.
| Date | Division | Whip | MP voted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04 Jul 2025 | Motion to sit in privateA motion was put forward to exclude the public and press from the parliamentary chamber by holding the session in private. This was overwhel… | Rebelled | Aye |
C · Speeches
| Date | Contribution | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Apr 2026 | Topical QuestionsHappy St George’s day to you, Mr Speaker. Can the Minister set out what progress the Government have made in cracking down on fraudsters who seek to defraud the public sector and w… DefenceTechnologyEconomy Jobs | 46 |
| 23 Apr 2026 | Business of the HouseMay I wish you a happy St George’s day, Madam Deputy Speaker? Reform-run Lancashire county council, which borders my Bolton West constituency, has threatened residents with care ho… Local GovernmentEconomy JobsEnergy | 104 |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Mountain RescueThe hon. Member makes an excellent point about mental health support for volunteers, and I will come to that shortly. Volunteers are giving up their time to keep others safe. Our m… Social CareLocal GovernmentCost Of Living | 882 |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Mountain RescueThe hon. Member makes a very good point; we do not have lowland rescue in Bolton, but I do not see why not. Those volunteers are also hard-working and deserve similar support when … Social CareLocal GovernmentCost Of Living | 224 |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Mountain RescueIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart); as a fellow Greater Manchester MP, I share her determination… Social CareLocal GovernmentCost Of Living | 163 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Topical QuestionsBusinesses in my constituency including trailer manufacturer Indespension are labouring under a mountain of repetitive, costly and unnecessary paperwork because the last Government… DefenceEconomy JobsImmigration | 59 |
| 20 Apr 2026 | Security VettingWhen Sir Olly Robbins came before the Foreign Affairs Committee on 3 November last year, he was asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Walton (Dan Carden) whether, in the… Mp PerformanceDefence | 97 |
| 16 Apr 2026 | Business of the HouseThere are almost 26,000 unpaid carers in Bolton, providing vital support to individuals across the borough who would otherwise struggle to manage. Will the Leader of the House join… DefenceLocal GovernmentHealth | 86 |
| 13 Apr 2026 | North Atlantic Submarine ActivityBuilding on the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Widnes and Halewood (Derek Twigg), I commend my hon. and gallant Friend on his statement and encourage him to do all he can… DefenceEnergy | 127 |
| 13 Apr 2026 | SEND Provision and ReformWill my hon. Friend join me in welcoming the £4.8 million of extra investment that this Government have put in to support SEND adaptations in Bolton, but also acknowledge the recog… EducationSocial CareLocal Government | 57 |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Business of the HouseIn Bolton West, my constituents are concerned that proposed funding for a section of link road called Park Avenue has been trumpeted as unlocking a further 4,000 homes near Westhou… Local GovernmentEnergyCost Of Living | 118 |
| 26 Mar 2026 | National Savings & InvestmentsI have very fond memories of the National Savings & Investment savings account that I held as a child—I regularly paid money into it at Little Lever post office. I understand h… Fiscal PolicyUtilitiesCost Of Living | 148 |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Foreign Financial Influence and Interference: UK PoliticsAs an individual who has dedicated my life to tackling corruption in all its forms and as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on anti-corruption and responsible tax, I t… Fiscal PolicyDefenceTechnology | 254 |
| 11 Mar 2026 | Finance (No. 2) BillI will speak to new clause 4 in particular, and to the wider issue of tax dodging and enforcement in this country. I make these remarks as chair of the all-party parliamentary grou… Fiscal PolicyAgricultureEconomy Jobs | 964 |
| 11 Mar 2026 | Royal Mail: Universal Service ObligationI thank the Minister for his constructive engagement with me over the past few weeks on Royal Mail’s poor services in my Bolton West constituency. I know that he shares my utter fr… UtilitiesLabour MarketEconomy Jobs | 138 |
D · Written questions
Top departments
| Department | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | 28 | 16.4% |
| Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 26 | 15.2% |
| Home Office | 23 | 13.5% |
| Department of Health and Social Care | 20 | 11.7% |
| Treasury | 18 | 10.5% |
| Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | 15 | 8.8% |
| Department for Education | 7 | 4.1% |
| Department for Business and Trade | 7 | 4.1% |
Most recent
| Date | Department | Question | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Apr 2026 | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress her Department has made with Cabinet colleagues on resetting the UK's relationship with the European Union. | Pending |
| 14 Apr 2026 | Department for Culture, Media and Sport | To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish the modelling that informed the funding split for the Enrichment Expansion Programme. | Pending |
| 14 Apr 2026 | Department for Culture, Media and Sport | To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of allocating £22.5 million under the Enrichment Expansion Programme (a) across up to 400 schools and (b) via a singl… | Pending |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Home Office | To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will respond to the recommendations in both part one and part two of the Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences by Jonathan Fisher KC. | Pending |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Home Office | To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is still committed to publishing part two of the Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences by Jonathan Fisher KC. | Pending |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Attorney General | To ask the Solicitor General, what the (a) annual budget and (b) number of staff was for the Crown Prosecution Service Specialist Fraud Division in each of the last five years. | Answered |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Home Office | To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a list of companies which provided AI services to Police Forces and the National Crime Agency between January 2025 - January 2026. | Answered |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Home Office | To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide a breakdown of the value of assets recovered through confiscation, forfeiture and civil recovery orders between April 2025 - October 2025. | Answered |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Home Office | To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a multi-year ringfenced Economic Crime Fighting Fund to help ensure that assets recovered from the procee… | Answered |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Attorney General | To ask the Solicitor General, what the (a) annual budget and (b) number of staff was for the Crown Prosecution Service Specialist Proceeds of Crime unit in each of the last five years. | Answered |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Home Office | To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide a list of the companies her Department had contracts with between January 2025 - January 2026 to develop AI-powered tools that assist law enforcement in the recovery… | Answered |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Home Office | To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of the budget for the international corruption unit within the National Crime Agency came from (a) Official Development Assistance through the UK Action Aga… | Answered |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Home Office | To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her department will publish its new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery (AMLAR) strategy. | Answered |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Home Office | To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she provide a breakdown of the value of the assets recovered from the five Unexplained Wealth Orders that were obtained in 2024-2025. | Answered |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) annual budget and (b) number of staff was for HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service in each of the last five years. | Answered |
E · Committees
| Committee | Role | House | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign Affairs CommitteeSelect | Member | Commons | 16 Dec 2024 | present |
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 | 60 | 19,287 | 10.7% |
| Accommodation | 24 | 17,479 | 9.7% |
| MP Travel | 0 | 6,857 | 3.8% |
| Staff Travel | 0 | 2,224 | 1.2% |
| Staffing | 0 | 133,257 | 74.1% |
| Dependant Travel | 0 | 821 | 0.5% |
Top itemised cost types
| Cost type | Category | Claims | Paid (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | Accommodation | 8 | 14,116 |
| Rent | Office Costs | 8 | 5,400 |
| Equipment - purchase | Office Costs | 16 | 5,036 |
| Pooled staffing services | Office Costs | 1 | 3,000 |
| Software & applications | Office Costs | 4 | 2,590 |
| Hotel - London | Accommodation | 6 | 2,214 |
| Stationery & printing | Office Costs | 13 | 1,021 |
| Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | Office Costs | 1 | 702 |
| Utilities | Office Costs | 9 | 596 |
| Utilities | Accommodation | 4 | 515 |
| Council tax | Accommodation | 1 | 462 |
| Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Office Costs | 3 | 363 |
Most recent
| Date | Category | Description | Paid (£) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Apr 2025 | Office Costs Rent | Rent | 900 | Paid |
| 31 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | SQ CRAFTPRINT LIMITED [200011725-10087] | 702 | Paid |
| 31 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Rent | 2024-25 [***] rent pro-rata | -900 | Paid |
| 31 Mar 2025 | Accommodation Rent | 2024-25 [***] rent pro-rata | -1,179 | Paid |
| 18 Mar 2025 | Accommodation Rent | Rent | 2,185 | Paid |
| 11 Mar 2025 | Accommodation Utilities | Electricity | 140 | Paid |
| 11 Mar 2025 | Accommodation Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Internet | 27 | Paid |
| 10 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Other office equipment | 17 | Paid |
| 07 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Utilities | Electricity | 50 | Paid |
| 04 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Rent | Rent | 900 | Paid |
| 28 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Utilities | Water | 25 | Paid |
| 25 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection | AMAZON [***] | 36 | Paid |
| 25 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 20 | Paid |
| 25 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 14 | Paid |
| 25 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 4 | Paid |
| 25 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 1 | Paid |
| 24 Feb 2025 | Office Costs TV licence | TVLICENSING.CO.UK | 170 | Paid |
| 24 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories | 150 | Paid |
| 24 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Sundries | 61 | Paid |
| 21 Feb 2025 | Accommodation Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Internet | 27 | 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 UK1 entry
04 Nov 2025
Name of donor: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung UK
Address of donor: 23 Devereux Court, London WC2R 3JJ
Estimate of the probable value (or amount of any donation): International travel, accommodation, and meals, value £815
Destination of visit: Germany (Berlin, Potsdam)
Dates of visit: 14 October 2025 to 16 October 2025
Purpose of visit: Participation in annual UK-German Parliamentary Dialogue organised by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
(Registered 31 October 2025)
8. Miscellaneous1 entry
06 Jan 2026
Elected member of the Executive of the British Group of the Inter Parliamentary Union. This is an unpaid role.
Date interest arose: 26 November 2025
(Registered 22 December 2025)
H · Ward results
Most recent winning councillor in each ward — 9 wards, 10 councillor seats.
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Votes | Election |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Lever | Karen Hon | Labour Party | 1,521 | 02 May 2024 |
| Heaton Lostock Chew Moor | Andy Morgan | Conservative and Unionist Party | 1,975 | 02 May 2024 |
| Horwich North | Charlotte Chloe Minnie Sears | Horwich & Blackrod First Independents | 1,835 | 02 May 2024 |
| Horwich North | Victoria Elise Rigby | Horwich & Blackrod First Independents | 2,028 | 02 May 2024 |
| Horwich South Blackrod | Samantha Louise Angela Williamson | Horwich & Blackrod First Independents | 1,507 | 02 May 2024 |
| Hulton | Fazeelah Khan | Labour Party | 1,213 | 02 May 2024 |
| Rumworth | Ayyub Chota Patel | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 1,990 | 02 May 2024 |
| Smithills | Garry Neil Veevers | Liberal Democrats | 1,690 | 02 May 2024 |
| Westhoughton North Hunger Hill | Deirdre Janice McGeown | Liberal Democrats | 1,137 | 02 May 2024 |
| Westhoughton South | John Stewart McHugh | Labour Party | 1,146 | 02 May 2024 |
I · Demographics
| Indicator | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2021 Census) | 100,280 | Electorate 74,933 (2024) |
| Median age | 42 | years |
| Degree-educated | 32.7% | level 4 or above |
| Ethnicity (White) | 82.0% | 2021 Census ethnic group |
| Owner-occupied | 71.8% | households |
| Private-rented | 15.4% | households |
| Social-rented | 12.7% | households |
| Employment rate | 57.5% | 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.