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

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 |

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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%
Independent0 1033.3%
Lab262 (+2 tell) 34173.3%
LDem1 24 (+1 tell)047.3%
UUP1 0020.0%
Total:338 79166.0%

Rebel Voters - sorted by vote

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
Diane AbbottHackney North and Stoke NewingtonLabaye
Mr Harry BarnesNorth East DerbyshireLabaye
John BercowBuckinghamCon (front bench)tellaye
Roger BerryKingswoodLab (minister)aye
Mr Harold BestLeeds North WestLab (minister)aye
Peter BottomleyWorthing WestCon (front bench)aye
David CameronWitneyConaye
Colin ChallenMorley and RothwellLab (minister)aye
Sir Sydney ChapmanChipping BarnetCon (front bench)aye
Kenneth ClarkeRushcliffeCon (front bench)aye
Derek ConwayOld Bexley and SidcupCon (front bench)aye
Robin CookLivingstonLabaye
Jeremy CorbynIslington NorthLabaye
Mr James CranBeverley and HoldernessCon (front bench)aye
Ann CryerKeighleyLab (minister)aye
John CryerHornchurchLabaye
David CurrySkipton and RiponCon (front bench)aye
Frank DobsonHolborn and St PancrasLabaye
Mark FieldCities of London and WestminsterCon (front bench)aye
Mark FisherStoke-on-Trent CentralLab (minister)aye
Neil GerrardWalthamstowLab (minister)aye
Dominic GrieveBeaconsfieldCon (front bench)aye
John GummerSuffolk CoastalCon (front bench)aye
David HeyesAshton-under-LyneLab (minister)aye
Douglas HoggSleaford and North HykehamConaye
Kelvin HopkinsLuton NorthLab (minister)aye
Glenda JacksonHampstead and HighgateLabaye
Lynne JonesBirmingham, Selly OakLabaye
Alan KeenFeltham and HestonLab (minister)aye
Robert KeySalisburyCon (front bench)aye
Ian Liddell-GraingerBridgwaterCon (front bench)aye
David LidingtonAylesburyCon (front bench)aye
Peter LuffMid WorcestershireCon (front bench)aye
Mr Calum MacDonaldNa h-Eileanan an IarLabaye
Mrs Alice MahonHalifaxLabaye
Robert Marshall-AndrewsMedwayLabaye
John Martin McDonnellHayes and HarlingtonLabaye
Mr Tony McWalterHemel HempsteadLab (minister)aye
Andrew MitchellSutton ColdfieldCon (front bench)aye
George OsborneTattonCon (front bench)aye
Mrs Anne PickingEast LothianLab (minister)aye
Gordon PrenticePendleLab (minister)aye
Laurence RobertsonTewkesburyCon (front bench)aye
Terry RooneyBradford NorthLab (minister)aye
Martin SalterReading WestLab (minister)aye
Mr Brian SedgemoreHackney South and ShoreditchLabaye
Alan SimpsonNottingham SouthLab (minister)aye
Dennis SkinnerBolsoverLab (minister)aye
Mr Llew SmithBlaenau GwentLabaye
Jon TrickettHemsworthLab (minister)aye
Robert WalterNorth DorsetCon (front bench)aye
Robert WareingLiverpool, West DerbyLabaye
David WilshireSpelthorneCon (front bench)aye
Mike WoodBatley and SpenLabaye
Tony WrightCannock ChaseLab (minister)aye
Mike HancockPortsmouth SouthLDem (front bench)no
David TaylorNorth West LeicestershireLab (minister)both

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