Melksham and Devizes.

Mathew's most distinctive recent act has been breaking with the Liberal Democrats on the assisted dying bill, voting against his party on five separate divisions in June 2025 -- consistently pushing for tighter safeguards, including blocking routes that would have allowed voluntary starvation to qualify someone as terminally ill. His deviations from Lib Dem colleagues on end-of-life issues are among the largest recorded for him: roughly 25 to 33 percentage points apart on several assisted-dying measures. Beyond Westminster, he secured a parliamentary debate in March 2026 over proposals to close four Wiltshire fire stations, met affected firefighters, and pressed ministers to intervene -- coverage that generated some of the most positive local sentiment in his recent press.

At 65% voting participation, Mathew falls noticeably below the Commons average. Where he does vote, he is a 97% party-line Lib Dem -- except on assisted dying and, notably, progressive taxation, where he sits 20 points below his party's average. His 116 contributions across 80 debates show a busy speaker: economy and jobs dominate, alongside defence, health, social care, and transport. Local infrastructure features prominently -- he chaired meetings with Network Rail on Wiltshire rail improvements and raised a community hospital's capacity shortfall in Parliament.

His background in international development informs his seat on the International Development Committee and likely shapes his relatively high alignment with welfare and civil-liberties votes. His voting record shows strong support for Lords scrutiny (97%) and parliamentary accountability (100%), reflected in backing the referral of the Prime Minister to the Privileges Committee in April 2026. Local news coverage -- 99 articles in 90 days -- is broadly neutral in tone; crime and culture stories dominate, with local government coverage skewing slightly positive.