Rutherglen.

Shanks is best known right now for his consistent opposition to assisted dying -- one of the sharpest deviations from his parliamentary party. He voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at Second Reading, Third Reading, and backed an amendment at Report Stage that would have allowed religious employers to prohibit staff from facilitating assisted dying. That amendment passed. His stance puts him 48 percentage points below the Labour average on assisted dying access, making it his most distinctive position in Parliament. Locally, he recently launched a petition to save a bus route he called a "vital public service" -- a visible piece of constituency casework that drew positive coverage.

A 98.8% party-line voter overall, Shanks participates in 63% of votes -- below the Commons average -- though this partly reflects his role as a Parliamentary Private Secretary or junior ministerial duties are not listed, so the gap bears watching. His speeches cluster heavily around energy (117 contributions) and economy and jobs (77), consistent with his standing as a minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. He scores 0% on pro-business votes and 13% on parliamentary scrutiny measures, suggesting strong support for executive authority, and he backs Lords reform at above the party average.

Shanks won Rutherglen in October 2023 in a high-profile by-election, overturning a large SNP majority. News coverage over the past 90 days spans 97 articles, with economy and jobs the dominant topic; sentiment averages low (0.25 out of 1), driven partly by neutral or negative crime and health coverage rather than personal criticism. He sits on no select committees. Speech and voting data are available from October 2023 onwards.