Defence and Foreign Affairs
Military, national security, and international relations
Based on 22 parliamentary votes
Sub-issues
How Parties Voted on Defence and Foreign Affairs
Government alignment shows how often each party voted with the government's stated position. Issue-aligned direction shows agreement with the AI-identified supportive stance.
Voted with government positionVoted in issue-aligned direction
Recent Votes
| Vote | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|
The opposition brought forward a motion on defence policy for debate and a vote. Opposition Day motions allow the opposition to set the agenda and challenge the government's approach — in this case on defence, likely concerning spending commitments or military capability. Yes = 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 Govt: No | 99-305 | 24 Mar 2026 |
An Opposition Day debate motion on the future of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), likely relating to the controversial deal under which the UK agreed to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. This vote reflects the opposition's challenge to the government's handling of this strategic territory. Yes = 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 Govt: No | 105-286 | 28 Jan 2026 |
MPs voted on whether to reject a Lords amendment to the Diego Garcia/British Indian Ocean Territory Bill. Lords Amendment 1 would have added conditions around notifying Mauritius about military activities on the base, which critics argued would compromise operational security and undermine British sovereignty over the territory. Yes = 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 Govt: Aye | 345-183 | 20 Jan 2026 |
MPs voted on whether to reject a change made by the House of Lords to the Diego Garcia Military Base Bill. The Lords had added Amendment 6 to place additional conditions or constraints on the deal; the government asked the Commons to overturn it in order to proceed with the agreement as negotiated. Yes = 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 Govt: Aye | 346-185 | 20 Jan 2026 |
MPs voted on whether to reject a Lords amendment that would have required the government to publish the full inflation-adjusted costs of payments to Mauritius under the Diego Garcia treaty, including the methodology used to calculate them. The government argued the financial details were already publicly available; the opposition said the government had never been transparent about the true costs to British taxpayers. Yes = 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 Govt: Aye | 348-188 | 20 Jan 2026 |
An Opposition Day motion brought by the Conservatives calling for debate and likely action on a case involving suspected Chinese state espionage. Opposition Days allow the opposition to set the parliamentary agenda, and the government typically votes against such motions even if the underlying concern is legitimate. Yes = Support holding the government to account over its handling of a Chinese spying case, demanding greater transparency or tougher action · No = Reject the opposition's framing of the China spying case, defending the government's existing approach to national security and counter-espionage Govt: No | 177-327 | 28 Oct 2025 |
Vote on an opposition amendment that would have delayed the Diego Garcia/British Indian Ocean Territory treaty coming into force until the government published a memorandum explaining the international legal obligations requiring the UK to hand sovereignty to Mauritius, including a summary of legal advice received. This was part of Conservative attempts to block or delay what they called Labour's 'surrender' of the territory. Yes = Support requiring the government to publish its legal justification for ceding sovereignty of BIOT to Mauritius before the treaty can take effect, arguing greater parliamentary scrutiny is needed over a major national security decision. · No = Oppose delaying the treaty by demanding publication of legal advice, backing the government's position that the treaty should proceed without this additional parliamentary hurdle. Govt: No | 175-320 | 20 Oct 2025 |
Vote on Amendment 9, proposed by Dr Al Pinkerton (Lib Dem), to the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill. The amendment sought to strengthen protections for Chagossians' rights in the treaty, including establishing a legally binding right to return and a binding resettlement programme, on the grounds that the current treaty fails to rectify the historical injustice of their displacement. Yes = Support requiring the treaty to include legally binding rights of return and resettlement for Chagossians before it can come into force, prioritising indigenous rights · No = Oppose the amendment, backing the treaty as negotiated and rejecting changes that the government argues would undermine the deal and UK international credibility Govt: No | 86-315 | 20 Oct 2025 |
Vote on whether Clause 2 of the Diego Garcia/British Indian Ocean Territory Bill should stand as part of the Bill. Clause 2 relates to the Treaty provisions coming into force, and opposition amendments sought to delay this until the government published legal advice and risk assessments about the UK's obligations to cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius. Yes = Support Clause 2 remaining in the Bill, allowing the Treaty transferring sovereignty of British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius to proceed as drafted without requiring prior publication of legal advice or risk assessments. · No = Oppose Clause 2 as drafted, arguing the Treaty should not come into force until Parliament has seen the government's legal advice and risk assessments justifying the cession of British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius. Govt: Aye | 316-176 | 20 Oct 2025 |
MPs voted on the Third Reading (final Commons approval) of the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill, which would enact a treaty transferring sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius while securing the UK's continued use of the Diego Garcia military base. Opposition amendments sought to delay the treaty coming into force until the government published legal advice and risk assessments justifying the deal. Yes = Support passing the Bill and proceeding with the sovereignty transfer to Mauritius, backing the government's treaty to secure the long-term future of the Diego Garcia military base · No = Oppose the Bill in its current form, arguing the government should first publish legal advice and risk assessments before ceding British sovereignty over the territory Govt: Aye | 317-173 | 20 Oct 2025 |
How is this calculated?
Government alignment (primary bar) shows how often a party's MPs voted with the government's stated position on this issue. This is the most comparable metric across parties, as it measures the same reference point for everyone.
Issue-aligned direction (secondary bar) shows how often MPs voted in the direction tagged as supportive of this issue by AI analysis. For example, if a vote is tagged “pro-environment”, a Yes vote counts as aligned. This can be misleading when the tagged direction happens to align with opposition amendments rather than government bills.
Why these metrics may differ: Opposition parties often vote against government bills for strategic or procedural reasons, even when they broadly support the policy area. The government alignment metric makes this clearer by showing the actual voting pattern against a consistent reference.
Source: Commons division data from the UK Parliament Votes API. Alignment direction determined by AI analysis of vote stance tags. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.