Labour Party MP for Sheffield South East.
One of Labour's most loyal MPs, Clive Betts has recently been vocal on two issues that cut close to Sheffield South East: green belt housing and industrial procurement. In January he publicly urged Sheffield City Council to reject what he called an "utterly unfair" plan allocating new homes to Dore, arguing the burden was distributed inequitably across the city. In April he called on ministers to change procurement rules so that Sheffield Forgemasters could win a Rolls-Royce small modular reactor contract — a significant fight for local manufacturing jobs. Both campaigns generated positive local press coverage, though a separate poll from the same month predicted he would lose his seat to Reform UK, suggesting a gap between his activity and constituents' overall satisfaction.
Betts votes with Labour on every recorded division — a 100% party-line record across 85% of votes cast, above the Commons average for participation. His stance profile reflects the government's fiscal and workers' rights priorities almost entirely, though his scores on pro-local-democracy (43%) and pro-parliamentary-scrutiny (10%) indicate he consistently backs centralising measures when Labour proposes them — including the recent planning reform requiring officer rather than councillor decisions on small housing applications. He deviates from Labour peers most notably on assisted dying, supporting easier access at a rate 31 percentage points above his party's average.
Betts has sat in Parliament since 1992, giving him unusual depth in local government and social care — the two non-economy topics that dominate his 289 recent contributions. He sits on the Public Accounts Committee, which shapes his consistent fiscal-responsibility voting. Recent news coverage, spread across 40 articles in 90 days, is broadly neutral; the most substantive stories centre on housing and industrial policy rather than any controversy. No rebel votes are on record.
Mr Clive Betts is the Labour MP for Sheffield South East, and has been an MP continually since 9 April 1992.
Top eight by total divisions voted, this parliament. Volume measures engagement, not direction — see Notable Votes for free-vote moments and rebellions.
Source · The Public Whip · Hansard
Moments where the whip was free, or where Betts broke ranks. Free votes are the truer signal of personal stance.
No rebellions or free votes recorded yet.
Source · Hansard
“The system is unfair to everyone: some abuse it while others with serious conditions are wrongly rejected; real reform must examine different reasons for application and respond pr…”
“Chair of Public Accounts Committee; highlighted Capita's poor track record on previous schemes; asked whether government had explored in-house alternatives when issues emerged last…”
“UK should follow the Dutch example and ban trade in settlement goods; doing something is better than doing nothing, and the Government should not hide behind legal difficulties.”
“Highlighted Cabinet Office responsibility alongside Capita's failures; expressed scepticism about June deadline being met given past broken assurances; advocated for building in-ho…”
Select, joint and other committees Betts currently sits on. Committee work is where much of the line-by-line scrutiny of bills and departments happens, away from the chamber.
| Committee | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker's Conference (2024) | Member | Select |
| Public Accounts Committee | Member | Select |
| Panel of Chairs | Member | Select |
Source · UK Parliament Committees API
Committee seats are where backbenchers shape legislation and hold departments to account. Betts sits on 3.
| Department | Qs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Social Care | 51 | 33.3% |
| Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | 31 | 20.3% |
| Department for Transport | 21 | 13.7% |
| Home Office | 12 | 7.8% |
| Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | 10 | 6.5% |
| Treasury | 9 | 5.9% |
| Department for Culture, Media and Sport | 5 | 3.3% |
| Department for Work and Pensions | 4 | 2.6% |
When the FSA last reviewed and updated the scientific evidence, research and data underpinning the Official Controls legislation referred to in PQ Answer 120762.
In 2022, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) completed an operational transformation programme and launched a new operational modernisation programme in 2023. These aim to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of the delivery of official c…read full →
How many major food incidents have there been in each of the last 5 years and of those how many were meat related.
In responding to food and feed safety incidents and foodborne disease outbreaks, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) categorises its handling of incident responses at Routine or Non-routine levels. Non-routine incident and outbreak responses ar…read full →
If he will direct the FSA to publish the terms of reference and timetable for conduct of their review of current and emerging abattoir technologies and their potential regulatory use including what
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works closely with the meat industry on the introduction of new technology in abattoirs. Whilst it is for businesses to determine what technology they wish to invest in and deploy, the FSA is keen to collabor…read full →
How many billing errors the Food Standards Agency made in charging food business operators for Official Controls in each of the last 3 years, and what was the total monetary value of these in each
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) does not centrally record billing errors for Official Controls in the format requested. Therefore, it is not possible to provide a definitive count of billing errors made in charging food business operators f…read full →
Chair of the Attercliffe Area Board. This is an unpaid role.
Chair of the Attercliffe Area Board. This is an unpaid role.
Date interest arose: 1 August 2023
(Registered 15 April 2024) |
A Trustee of Fields in Trust (FiT), a charity which champions and supports our p A Trustee of Fields in Trust (FiT), a charity which champions and supports our parks and green spaces. This is an unpaid role.
Date interes… |
Name: James Thomas
Name: James Thomas
Relationship: Partner
Role: Senior Parliamentary Assistant
Working pattern: Full time |
Source · Members API · Last amended 22 Apr 2024
| Category | £ | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Staffing | 239,765 | 76.3% |
| Office Costs | 34,927 | 11.1% |
| Accommodation | 28,903 | 9.2% |
| MP Travel | 9,956 | 3.2% |
| Staff Travel | 619 | 0.2% |
| Total · 296 claims | 314,169 | 100% |
Source · IPSA · FY 24_25
Nothing tabled for Betts on the published Order Paper this week.
| Year | Constituency | Votes | Share | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Sheffield South East | 18,710 | 52.3% | Won |
| 2019 | Sheffield South East | 19,359 | 46.1% | Won |
| 2017 | Sheffield South East | 25,520 | 58.5% | Won |
| 2015 | Sheffield South East | 21,439 | 51.4% | Won |
| 2010 | Sheffield South East | 20,169 | 48.7% | Won |
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clive BettsWON | Lab | 18,710 | 52.3 |
Showing the MP’s own row only. Full result table: see Sheffield South East →