Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill — Abolish the offense of Blasphemy — rejected — 7 Feb 2005 at 18:05

Miss Diane Abbott MP, Hackney North and Stoke Newington voted in the minority (Aye).

The majority of MPs voted to retain the offence of blasphemy and blasphemous libel in British law.

They did this by voting against inserting a new clause into the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill, which said:

  • The offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel are abolished.[1]

During the debate it was asserted that all votes in this issue are free for members of the Conservative Party.[2]

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |

Party Summary

Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.

What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.

What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.

What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.

PartyMajority (No)Minority (Aye)BothTurnout
Con68 20 (+1 tell)055.3%
DUP6 0085.7%
Ind0 1033.3%
Lab262 (+2 tell) 34173.3%
LDem1 24 (+1 tell)047.3%
UUP1 0020.0%
Total:338 79166.0%

Rebel Voters - sorted by party

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
Mr John BercowBuckinghamContellaye
Mr Peter BottomleyWorthing WestConaye
Mr David CameronWitneyCon (front bench)aye
Sir Sydney ChapmanChipping BarnetConaye
Mr Kenneth ClarkeRushcliffeConaye
Mr Derek ConwayOld Bexley and SidcupConaye
Mr James CranBeverley and HoldernessConaye
Mr David CurrySkipton and RiponConaye
Mr Mark FieldCities of London and WestminsterCon (front bench)aye
Mr Dominic GrieveBeaconsfieldCon (front bench)aye
Mr John GummerSuffolk CoastalConaye
Mr Douglas HoggSleaford and North HykehamConaye
Mr Robert KeySalisburyCon (front bench)aye
Mr Ian Liddell-GraingerBridgwaterConaye
Mr David LidingtonAylesburyCon (front bench)aye
Mr Peter LuffMid WorcestershireCon (front bench)aye
Mr Andrew MitchellSutton ColdfieldCon (front bench)aye
Mr George OsborneTattonCon (front bench)aye
Mr Laurence RobertsonTewkesburyCon (front bench)aye
Mr Robert WalterNorth DorsetConaye
Mr David WilshireSpelthorneCon (front bench)aye
Miss Diane AbbottHackney North and Stoke NewingtonLabaye
Mr Harry BarnesNorth East DerbyshireLabaye
Dr Roger BerryKingswoodLabaye
Mr Harold BestLeeds North WestLabaye
Mr Colin ChallenMorley and RothwellLabaye
Mr Robin CookLivingstonLabaye
Mr Jeremy CorbynIslington NorthLabaye
Mrs Ann CryerKeighleyLabaye
Mr John CryerHornchurchLabaye
Mr Frank DobsonHolborn and St PancrasLabaye
Mr Mark FisherStoke-on-Trent CentralLabaye
Mr Neil GerrardWalthamstowLabaye
Mr David HeyesAshton-under-LyneLabaye
Mr Kelvin HopkinsLuton NorthLabaye
Ms Glenda JacksonHampstead and HighgateLabaye
Dr Lynne JonesBirmingham, Selly OakLabaye
Mr Alan KeenFeltham and HestonLabaye
Mr Calum MacDonaldNa h-Eileanan an IarLabaye
Mrs Alice MahonHalifaxLabaye
Mr Robert Marshall-AndrewsMedwayLabaye
Mr John McDonnellHayes and HarlingtonLabaye
Mr Tony McWalterHemel HempsteadLabaye
Mrs Anne PickingEast LothianLabaye
Mr Gordon PrenticePendleLabaye
Mr Terry RooneyBradford NorthLab (PPS)aye
Mr Martin SalterReading WestLabaye
Mr Brian SedgemoreHackney South and ShoreditchLabaye
Mr Alan SimpsonNottingham SouthLabaye
Mr Dennis SkinnerBolsoverLabaye
Mr Llew SmithBlaenau GwentLabaye
Mr Jon TrickettHemsworthLabaye
Mr Robert WareingLiverpool, West DerbyLabaye
Mr Mike WoodBatley and SpenLabaye
Dr Tony WrightCannock ChaseLabaye
Mr David TaylorNorth West LeicestershireLabboth
Mr Mike HancockPortsmouth SouthLDemno

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