Where in the world is Lady Sylvia Hermon? (5)

It feels like banging one's head against a brick wall.  No-one apparently cares.  I suppose in a region which returns five official abstentionist MPs, what's another unofficial abstentionist?

Still, it's worth pointing out, just for the record (and for the eccentric few who actually do care about Northern Ireland's voice being heard at Westminster) that the member for North Down has now racked up her century.

Drum roll please ..... the 'independently minded' Lady has participated in 0 votes out of 102 during this parliament.  Count 'em!  Even Alasdair McDonnell, a notoriously work-shy member has notched up 24 votes.

An extraordinary record anyone would surely agree.  Even at the Spending Review announcement and the subsequent debate, which will surely affect even the prosperous denizens of the Gold Coast, Hermon was conspicuous by her absence.

How long will this record continue before it's flagged up outside a handful of blogs?  Have the local papers in North Down expressed any concern?  There hasn't been a peep in the regional press.

Update:  In the comments zone Bob Wilson points out that Hermon didn't even make it to the Northern Ireland Select Committee considering a cut in Corporation Tax.  

Comments

Timothy Belmont said…
Perhaps Sylvia has a second home somewhere? She's certainly keeping a low profile.
Anonymous said…
On the same theme, where in the world is Tom Elliott I haven't heard a peep out of him since he was elected UUP leader. Is he not going to appear on Hearts and Minds or something soon? Is the UUP press office hiding him?
anon said…
You dont think she has defected to that outer abstensionist party? :)
O'Neill said…
No, there's been nothing in The Spectator.

Rather ironically when I put in a search on here name there, it came up with: "Syntax error (missing operator)"
Anonymous said…
Lazy Slyvia Hermon was also absent when the NI Select Ctte meet start their inquiry into Corporation Tax

Be fair to Alaisdair though being a Monday he wanted to be at the Assembly so couldnt make it either

Life's hard for these double jobbers!

Bob Wilson
Dilettante said…
Has anyone written to a North Down newspaper? I'd be happy to try to get in touch with one if not.
slug said…
I am very glad you are keeping this up. For me her behaviour is shocking. It is several orders of magnitude worse than the worst of the expenses scandals, for she is being paid and not doing the job.

In fact SF are acting better than Hermon - they don't get salaries because they abstain. We do pay Hermons.

Compare what enthusiastic representation one would have had from Parsley or a DUP person.

I am no DUP fan but the DUP do turn up and take it seriously. Hermon doesn't.

The DUP backed Hermon. She should attend in the good way that they do.
Anonymous said…
Slug,

Wilson has attended 55% of votes, Simpson 61%, Shannon 57%, Paisley Jnr 46%, Long 51%, McDonnell 24%,, Donaldson 64%, Campbell 46%, and Ritchie 26%, they are recorded on theyworkforyou.com as "well below average.

Durkan 68% McCrea 70% and Dodds 74% are the best but still recorded as "below average".

So are they all useless?????? Not even one manages to be "average".
iluvni said…
So, I'm not the only one to notice the failures of Lazy Hermon.
Anonymous said…
Lèse majesté is always dangerous. Sylvia is where she belongs - with her constituents.

They do not elect her to traipse over to Westminster. They expect her to be in North Down, listening and caring, not being involved in petty party politics.
slug said…
To the "anonymous" that replied to me: the MPs from NI may be below average. That may be understandible in the context of devolution, as English matters are still all determined at Westminster still so English MPs may be expected to vote just a bit more often than NI ones.

As far as the quality of representation for NI is concerned I would have to rate Mark Durkan as excellent - I was just watching one of his masterful speeches today (1 Nov) on the issue of parliamentary boundaries. He is highly regarded and his points generated a lot of discussion. I think Mark Durkan is a great representative of NI and I say that even though I am unionist not nationalist.
slug said…
Just watching the debate (on parliamentary constituencies) live, its interesting that David Heath, summing up for the government, said he would look at the points made by Mark Durkan and thought they needed consideration - but dismissed all the other points from across the house. I really do think Mark Durkan is an excellent MP for the whole of NI not just Foyle.

If Hermon were to turn up (which of course she hadn't) she might have been able to say something about constituency sizes, something that affects us in NI. But frankly I am beginning to doubt if she has anything to say. What is the point of her?
slug said…
If my observations are correct it looks like as of November Hermon has not once turned up in the main House of Commons benches since she was elected in May?
Owen Polley said…
I think she popped in for a statement on the Billy Wright Inquiry (because obviously that's the most important matter discussed since May)

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