Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill — Simplification of the Process for Legally Ending a Marriage or Civil Partnership — 8 Jun 2020 at 21:51
The majority of MPs voted to simplify the process of legally ending a marriage or civil partnership, but to set a minimum time-frame of 26 weeks for the process.
MPs were considering the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill[1].
The Bill[2]:
- Replaced the requirement to provide evidence of conduct or separation facts with a new requirement to provide a statement of irretrievable breakdown.
- Removed the possibility of contesting the decision to divorce
- Introduced a minimum overall time-frame of six months (26 weeks) into the divorce process
- Introduced a new option of a joint application
- Updated terminology, for example replacing terms such as "decree nisi", "decree absolute" and "petitioner" with "conditional order", "final order" and "applicant".
The motion supported by a majority of MPs in this vote was:
- That the Bill be now read a Second time.
Support for this motion enabled the Bill to continue on its path to becoming law.
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.
| Party | Majority (Aye) | Minority (No) | Both | Turnout |
| Con | 207 (+2 tell) | 12 (+2 tell) | 0 | 61.1% |
| DUP | 0 | 4 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Lab | 22 | 0 | 0 | 10.9% |
| LDem | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27.3% |
| Total: | 232 | 16 | 0 | 43.0% |
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
| Name | Constituency | Party | Vote |
| Sir David Amess | Southend West | Con (front bench) | no |
| Peter Bone | Wellingborough | Con (front bench) | tellno |
| Fiona Bruce | Congleton | Con (front bench) | no |
| Christopher Chope | Christchurch | Con (front bench) | tellno |
| Philip Davies | Shipley | Con (front bench) | no |
| Sally-Ann Hart | Hastings and Rye | Con (front bench) | no |
| John Hayes | South Holland and The Deepings | Con | no |
| Danny Kruger | Devizes | Con | no |
| Edward Leigh | Gainsborough | Con (front bench) | no |
| Karl McCartney | Lincoln | Con (front bench) | no |
| Robin Millar | Aberconwy | Con (front bench) | no |
| Andrew Rosindell | Romford | Con (front bench) | no |
| Desmond Swayne | New Forest West | Con (front bench) | no |
| Martin Vickers | Cleethorpes | Con (front bench) | no |