The topic lensIssue · 22 divisions tagged · 16 parties active
Defence and Foreign Affairs.
Military, national security, and international relations
Divisions tagged
22
This parliament
Parties active
16
≥1 vote tagged
Most on-whip
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
67% aligned
Recent activity
10
Most-recent divisions
Each row is one party. The bar shows how its MPs voted relative to a neutral midpoint — to the right = on-side with the majority position, to the left = opposed. The percentage figure is the share of that party’s MPs who took the same side: higher = more whip-disciplined, closer to 50% = a freer vote.
| Party | Stance vs neutral midpoint | Net % | Discipline | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour Party | Lab | 0 | 50% on-whip · 358 MPs | |
| Conservative and Unionist Party | Con | +5 | 55% on-whip · 113 MPs | |
| Liberal Democrats | LD | +4 | 54% on-whip · 72 MPs | |
| Labour and Co-operative Party | Ind | 0 | 50% on-whip · 42 MPs | |
| Independent | Ind | +2 | 52% on-whip · 14 MPs | |
| Scottish National Party | SNP | +15 | 65% on-whip · 9 MPs | |
| Reform UK | Ref | -2 | 48% on-whip · 8 MPs | |
| Green Party of England and Wales | Grn | +2 | 52% on-whip · 5 MPs |
Source · Hansard · alignment is the share of party MPs who voted with the party majority on tagged divisions
| Date | Motion | Aye | No | Carried |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Mar 2026 | Opposition Day Motion: Defence Aye: Support the opposition's position on defence, likely calling for stronger commitments on defence spending or criticising the government's approach to national security · No: Reject the opposition's motion, backing the government's existing defence policy and spending plans | 99 | 305 | No |
| 28 Jan 2026 | Opposition Day: British Indian Ocean Territory Aye: Support the opposition's motion criticising or seeking to block the government's approach to the British Indian Ocean Territory, including opposing ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius · No: Reject the opposition motion, backing the Labour government's negotiated position on the future of the British Indian Ocean Territory and the Chagos Islands deal | 105 | 286 | No |
| 20 Jan 2026 | Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 6 Aye: Support the government's position to remove the Lords' additional condition from the Bill, backing the deal as negotiated without further parliamentary constraints imposed by the Lords · No: Support the Lords' amendment, wanting additional safeguards or conditions written into the legislation governing the Diego Garcia military base agreement | 346 | 185 | Yes |
| 20 Jan 2026 | Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 5 Aye: Support rejecting the Lords amendment, trusting that existing published financial information is sufficient and no additional transparency requirement is needed · No: Support the Lords amendment requiring the government to publish full real-terms costs and methodology of the Diego Garcia treaty payments, arguing greater transparency for taxpayers is essential | 348 | 188 | Yes |
| 20 Jan 2026 | Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 1 Aye: Support rejecting the Lords amendment, backing the government's deal with Mauritius as negotiated without additional notification requirements that could constrain military operations at Diego Garcia · No: Support keeping the Lords amendment, arguing it provides important safeguards or alternatively opposing the entire deal as a surrender of British sovereignty that weakens the strategic value of the base | 345 | 183 | Yes |
All 22 divisions on this issue →
By party, the MPs whose voting record on defence and foreign affairs is most closely tracking the party majority. A fuller “most active by speech volume + written questions” ranking is pending — needs per-issue speech aggregation.
LabLabour Party
| MP | Constituency | % on-whip |
|---|---|---|
| Dan Jarvis | Barnsley North | 83% |
| Damien Egan | Bristol North East | 83% |
| Jess Phillips | Birmingham Yardley | 82% |
ConConservative and Unionist Party
| MP | Constituency | % on-whip |
|---|---|---|
| Christopher Chope | Christchurch | 69% |
| Peter Fortune | Bromley and Biggin Hill | 67% |
| Mark Garnier | Wyre Forest | 67% |
LDLiberal Democrats
| MP | Constituency | % on-whip |
|---|---|---|
| Rachel Gilmour | Tiverton and Minehead | 73% |
| Richard Foord | Honiton and Sidmouth | 69% |
| Roz Savage | South Cotswolds | 64% |
IndLabour and Co-operative Party
| MP | Constituency | % on-whip |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Norris | Nottingham North and Kimberley | 73% |
| Kate Osamor | Edmonton and Winchmore Hill | 67% |
| Oliver Ryan | Burnley | 65% |
IndIndependent
| MP | Constituency | % on-whip |
|---|---|---|
| James McMurdock | South Basildon and East Thurrock | 80% |
| Ayoub Khan | Birmingham Perry Barr | 75% |
| Iqbal Mohamed | Dewsbury and Batley | 64% |
SNPScottish National Party
| MP | Constituency | % on-whip |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Gethins | Arbroath and Broughty Ferry | 100% |
| Dave Doogan | Angus and Perthshire Glens | 100% |
| Graham Leadbitter | Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey | 75% |
Pending — issue-to-service mapping
Mapping each Westminster issue to the equivalent council service bucket (so “Defence and Foreign Affairs” → the matching service line on council finance, with the ranked-spend table this section wants) is its own taxonomy job. Council service spend lives on the council pages today; cross-cut by issue here in a follow-on pass.
Sources, methods & last update
Issue taggingEach division is tagged to one or more issues by Claude classification, reviewed by topic admins.
VotingHansard division lists · Commons Votes API
AlignmentShare of party MPs voting with the party majority on tagged divisions
CohortThis parliament · 22 divisions