Stephen Gethins.

One thing stands out about Stephen Gethins: he votes far less often than most MPs. His participation rate sits at 30% — roughly a third of the Commons average — yet he has been notably active in the chamber on defence, backing calls for greater Westminster investment in Scotland's security after Russian submarine activity near the Scottish coast made headlines in April. He supported referring Keir Starmer to the Privileges Committee over the Mandelson appointment, a move backed by the SNP alongside opposition parties. He has no rebel votes and has voted 100% with the SNP on every division where he participated.

His parliamentary pattern reflects a consistent SNP positioning: strongly against the employer National Insurance increase, sceptical of welfare cuts, supportive of workers' rights and climate action, and opposed to tightening asylum support rules. He deviates from his own party average mainly by being more willing to support Lords scrutiny of government legislation — backing the Lords on pension scheme protections, for instance, against government attempts to override them. His speeches are dominated by defence and the economy, with immigration, energy, and social care also featuring regularly across 254 contributions in 109 debates.

His local press coverage is mixed. Defence advocacy earned positive coverage, while a cost-of-living exchange in the Commons drew jeers and criticism that his response leaned on independence rhetoric rather than extracting government commitments. One older article revisited a 2019 Brexit vote, generating negative coverage on MP performance grounds. He holds no committee seats, which may partly explain the low voting participation — MPs without committee duties occasionally attend fewer divisions — though the data does not confirm this.