Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy / data
Melanie Ward · Labour Party · sitting since 04 Jul 2024 · every division, speech and committee appearance.
Since election
659days
from 04 Jul 2024
Divisions
376
of 504 possible
Attendance
75%
128 absent / paired
Whip alignment
97%
vs party majority
Speeches
110
65 debates
Written Qs
74
74 answered
Committees
0
memberships
Expenses
£202k paid
FY 2024–2025 · 121 claims
Interests
5
2 categories
A · Overview
Issue volume
Top issues by total divisions voted — engagement only, not direction.
| Issue | Volume | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Taxation | 87 | |
| Economy | 73 | |
| Employment | 40 | |
| Crime & Policing | 33 | |
| Education | 31 | |
| Constitution and Democracy | 29 | |
| Welfare and Benefits | 28 | |
| Housing | 23 |
Speech topics
Words spoken, by topic. Source: Hansard.
| Topic | Debates | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Defence | 30 | 8,070 |
| Culture Community | 12 | 6,449 |
| Social Care | 13 | 6,442 |
| Health | 14 | 6,227 |
| Economy Jobs | 30 | 5,074 |
| Local Government | 12 | 4,571 |
| Crime | 7 | 2,194 |
| Education | 4 | 2,100 |
B · Notable divisions
Free votes, rebellions and high-salience whipped votes — the moments that distinguish this MP from the party machine. The full division-by-division record will follow once the per-MP archive is wired.
| Date | Division | Whip | MP voted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Jun 2025 | Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: New Clause 16A procedural vote on whether to allow New Clause 16 to be formally considered as part of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at Rep… | Free vote | Aye |
| 20 Jun 2025 | Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Third ReadingMPs voted on the Third Reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill — the final Commons vote on whether to pass the assisted dyin… | Free vote | No |
| 20 Jun 2025 | Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Amendment 94Vote on whether to prevent someone from qualifying as 'terminally ill' under the assisted dying bill solely because they have voluntarily st… | Free vote | No |
C · Speeches
| Date | Contribution | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Apr 2026 | Courts and Tribunals Bill (Sixth sitting)She is being very clear. CrimeFiscal Policy | 5 |
| 15 Apr 2026 | Energy Profits Levy The ExxonMobil plant at Mossmorran in my constituency has now ceased production, after the company said last year that it had not made a profit for five years. News that our UK Lab… EnergyEconomy JobsFiscal Policy | 104 |
| 13 Apr 2026 | Middle EastI welcome the Prime Minister’s continued clarity on the need for Lebanon to be included in the ceasefire, but Israel’s tactics in Lebanon—forced displacement, evacuation orders, 16… DefenceEnergyCost Of Living | 71 |
| 24 Mar 2026 | Middle East: Economic UpdateMy constituents are appalled by supermarkets and other petrol retailers that are price gouging and profiteering from global instability and a middle east war that was backed by bot… EnergyCost Of LivingEconomy Jobs | 93 |
| 19 Mar 2026 | Online HarmsI thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I would add that I was recently at a primary school in my constituency, and I asked the young people how many of them were on social me… TechnologyCrimeHealth | 287 |
| 19 Mar 2026 | Business of the HouseUnder the SNP Scottish Government, police numbers in Fife have fallen by an average of one a month. Results from my new antisocial behaviour survey show that four in 10 Cowdenbeath… EnergyEconomy JobsLocal Government | 86 |
| 19 Mar 2026 | Online HarmsIt is an understatement to say that the internet and social media have changed everything. The early optimism of internet pioneers was that we would all benefit from a world in whi… TechnologyCrimeHealth | 833 |
| 19 Mar 2026 | International DevelopmentThe Foreign Secretary is aware of the impact of humanitarian aid and how it saves lives in the midst of the most horrific situations that humans experience on this earth. She will … DefenceEconomy JobsEnvironment | 97 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel Dutyindicated dissent. Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 2 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyI thank the hon. Lady for giving way—I thought I would give her some further relief from the interventions from the manosphere on the Conservative Benches. She is talking about the… Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 112 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyWill the hon. Gentleman give way? Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 6 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel Dutyrose— Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 1 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel Dutyrose— Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 1 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyDoes the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion (Siân Berry) agree that investing in clean, green, home-grown energy is the way to ensure that we have energy security for our country in… Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 33 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyI could come back to the hon. Gentleman on all the ways in which my constituents are getting really poor value for money in Scotland, such as the cuts to police numbers in Fife and… Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 135 |
D · Written questions
Top departments
| Department | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | 12 | 16.2% |
| Department for Transport | 10 | 13.5% |
| Department of Health and Social Care | 8 | 10.8% |
| Department for Work and Pensions | 7 | 9.5% |
| Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | 6 | 8.1% |
| Department for Culture, Media and Sport | 6 | 8.1% |
| Home Office | 6 | 8.1% |
| Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | 4 | 5.4% |
Most recent
| Date | Department | Question | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Feb 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she will consider extending the validity of driving theory tests from two years to three years. | Answered |
| 12 Feb 2026 | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterpart on access to Gaza for a) Palestinian doctors and b) international doctors. | Answered |
| 12 Feb 2026 | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterpart on the opening of a humanitarian corridor between Gaza and the West Bank and East Jerusalem. | Answered |
| 09 Feb 2026 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's proposed timeline is for banning cages in relation to hens and pigs. | Answered |
| 20 Jan 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason the CAA cannot release occurrence information on pilot fatigue events. | Answered |
| 09 Jan 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many occasions in the last year the Health and Safety Executive has discussed the issue of pilot fatigue with the Civil Aviation Authority. | Answered |
| 09 Jan 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of pilot fatigue have been reported to the Civil Aviation Authority in each of the past 10 years. | Answered |
| 17 Dec 2025 | Ministry of Defence | To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if she will outline the steps and decision-making criteria for awarding the Army Collective Training Service contract. | Answered |
| 10 Nov 2025 | Department for Culture, Media and Sport | To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is planning a further allocation of funding to support grassroots football in Scotland. | Answered |
| 03 Nov 2025 | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's Mass Atrocity Prevention Hub for supporting the UK’s response to the situation in El Fash… | Answered |
| 29 Aug 2025 | Ministry of Justice | To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of jury service on people employed on zero hour contracts. | Answered |
| 29 Aug 2025 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to allow people with epilepsy who have been seizure-free for more than ten years while taking medication to apply for a driver's licence. | Answered |
| 18 Jul 2025 | Department for Culture, Media and Sport | To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance her Department has issued to (a) UK charities and (b) the Charity Commission to ensure that charities do not invest in illegal settlements in occupied territory which… | Answered |
| 14 Jul 2025 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expects Network Rail to have completed a feasibility study on making Burntisland railway station accessible. | Answered |
| 11 Jul 2025 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress her Department has made on increasing driving examiner recruitment in Fife. | Answered |
E · Committees
No committee memberships recorded for this MP.
F · Expenses
Every business-cost claim reimbursed by IPSA in the current financial year, grouped by category. “Aggregated” rows are IPSA’s own year-end totals for cost types like payroll and rent that aren’t itemised claim-by-claim.
Category breakdown
| Category | Claims | Paid (£) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office Costs | 84 | 26,020 | 12.9% |
| Staffing | 3 | 139,184 | 68.8% |
| Accommodation | 21 | 13,684 | 6.8% |
| MP Travel | 0 | 13,502 | 6.7% |
| Staff Travel | 0 | 4,948 | 2.4% |
| Dependant Travel | 0 | 4,939 | 2.4% |
Top itemised cost types
| Cost type | Category | Claims | Paid (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bought-in services | Staffing | 3 | 15,868 |
| Rent | Accommodation | 11 | 11,654 |
| Rent | Office Costs | 10 | 7,162 |
| Equipment - purchase | Office Costs | 6 | 5,433 |
| Moving Fees | Office Costs | 1 | 4,130 |
| Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | Office Costs | 4 | 2,720 |
| Stationery & printing | Office Costs | 34 | 2,383 |
| Council tax | Accommodation | 5 | 1,826 |
| Software & applications | Office Costs | 9 | 1,690 |
| Bought-in services | Office Costs | 1 | 1,443 |
| Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Office Costs | 12 | 667 |
| Advertising and contact cards | Office Costs | 5 | 386 |
Most recent
| Date | Category | Description | Paid (£) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Aug 2025 | Staffing Bought-in services | Professional & consultancy | 0 | Repaid |
| 21 May 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | [***] [***] [***] line 60257461-3 is a duplicate of 60257451-1. | 0 | Repaid |
| 25 Apr 2025 | Staffing Bought-in services | Professional & consultancy | 5,868 | Paid |
| 14 Apr 2025 | Office Costs Bought-in services | Professional & consultancy | 1,443 | Paid |
| 14 Apr 2025 | Office Costs Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | Painting of new office [200011798-541] | 1,350 | Paid |
| 14 Apr 2025 | Office Costs Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | Fitting of carpet to new office [200011798-540] | 475 | Paid |
| 31 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Sundries | 177 | Paid |
| 31 Mar 2025 | Accommodation Rent | 2024-25 [***] rent pro-rata | -494 | Paid |
| 28 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Sundries | 47 | Paid |
| 28 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Sundries | 40 | Paid |
| 28 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Rent | Repayment of rent PSP 90044456:1 | 0 | Repaid |
| 26 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Rent | [***] | 442 | Paid |
| 26 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Television | 315 | Paid |
| 26 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Sundries | 164 | Paid |
| 26 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | TIMPSON LIMITED [200011725-7960] | 57 | Paid |
| 26 Mar 2025 | Accommodation Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Landline & internet package | 34 | Paid |
| 20 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Office furniture | 4,691 | Paid |
| 20 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 203 | Paid |
| 20 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 76 | Paid |
| 20 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 25 | Paid |
G · Register of interests
Every financial interest declared by the MP, grouped under the Register’s official categories. Retracted entries are hidden but counted above.
3. Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources2 entries
23 Oct 2025
Name of donor: Great Britain China Centre
Address of donor: Kings Buildings, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HQ
Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: Costs of a residential course attended by a member of my staff (Great Britain China Centre is a non-departmental body of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), value £1,350
Date received: 22 July 2025 to 25 July 2025
Date accepted: 22 July 2025
Donor status: company, registration 01196043
(Registered 21 August 2025)
02 Dec 2025
Name of donor: Great Britain China Centre
Address of donor: Kings Buildings, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HQ
Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: Cost of a two-day non-residential course in London attended by a member of staff (Great Britain China Centre is a non-departmental body of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), value £1,100
Date received: 6 November 2025 to 7 November 2025
Date accepted: 6 November 2025
Donor status: company, registration 01196043
(Registered 24 November 2025)
4. Visits outside the UK3 entries
06 Jan 2026
Name of donor: Doha Forum
Address of donor: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Almirqab Tower, West Bay, Doha, Qatar
Estimate of the probable value (or amount of any donation): Flights (£5,555), accommodation and meals (£402), value £5,957
Destination of visit: Qatar
Dates of visit: 5 December 2025 to 8 December 2025
Purpose of visit: To participate in the Doha Forum 2025 on diplomacy, dialogue and diversity, including meetings with fellow cross-party parliamentarians, political representations of other countries and Qatari ministers to discuss Qatar’s role in seeking to resolve current regional conflicts.
(Registered 19 December 2025)
04 Nov 2025
Name of donor: Stiftung Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz gGmbH
Address of donor: Karolinenplatz 3, 80333 Munich, Germany
Estimate of the probable value (or amount of any donation): Flights (£1148.85), accommodation (£697.17), meals and transport (estimated value £400), value £2,246.02
Destination of visit: Saudi Arabia (AlUla)
Dates of visit: 30 September 2025 to 3 October 2025
Purpose of visit: Participation in Munich Leaders Meeting on the Middle East, run by the Munich Security Conference Foundation.
(Registered 23 October 2025)
21 Oct 2025
Name of donor: Stiftung Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz gGmbH
Address of donor: Karolinenplatz 3, 80333 Munich, Germany
Estimate of the probable value (or amount of any donation): Flights (£1807.22), accommodation (£1141.58), meals (£233.28), additional meals and transport (estimated value £300), value £3,482.08
Destination of visit: United States (New York)
Dates of visit: 17 September 2025 to 21 September 2025
Purpose of visit: Participation in Annual Meeting of Women Parliamentarians Programme run by the Munich Security Conference Foundation.
(Registered 13 October 2025)
H · Ward results
Most recent winning councillor in each ward — 7 wards, 23 councillor seats.
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Votes | Election |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burntisland Kinghorn Western Kirkcaldy | Julie MacDougall | Labour Party | 1,730 | 05 May 2022 |
| Burntisland Kinghorn Western Kirkcaldy | Kathleen Leslie | Conservative and Unionist Party | 1,239 | 05 May 2022 |
| Burntisland Kinghorn Western Kirkcaldy | Lesley Backhouse | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 1,735 | 05 May 2022 |
| Cowdenbeath | Alex Campbell | Labour Party | 2,028 | 05 May 2022 |
| Cowdenbeath | Alie Bain | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 1,916 | 05 May 2022 |
| Cowdenbeath | Bailey-Lee Robb | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 513 | 05 May 2022 |
| Cowdenbeath | Darren Watt | Conservative and Unionist Party | 1,256 | 05 May 2022 |
| Dunfermline North | Auxi Barrera | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 1,350 | 05 May 2022 |
| Dunfermline North | Gavin Ellis | Conservative and Unionist Party | 1,017 | 05 May 2022 |
| Dunfermline North | Gordon Pryde | Labour Party | 1,627 | 05 May 2022 |
| Inverkeithing Dalgety Bay | Dave Dempsey | Conservative and Unionist Party | 1,355 | 05 May 2022 |
| Inverkeithing Dalgety Bay | David John Barratt | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 2,187 | 05 May 2022 |
| Inverkeithing Dalgety Bay | Patrick Charles Browne | Labour Party | 1,426 | 05 May 2022 |
| Inverkeithing Dalgety Bay | Sarah Neal | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 802 | 05 May 2022 |
| Kirkcaldy Central | Alistair Cameron | Labour Party | 984 | 05 May 2022 |
| Kirkcaldy Central | Blair Allan | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 1,005 | 05 May 2022 |
| Kirkcaldy Central | Judy Hamilton | Labour Party | 915 | 05 May 2022 |
| Kirkcaldy East | Ian John Cameron | Labour Party | 1,313 | 05 May 2022 |
| Kirkcaldy East | Nicola Patrick | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 687 | 05 May 2022 |
| Kirkcaldy East | Rod Cavanagh | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 924 | 05 May 2022 |
| Kirkcaldy North | Carol Lindsay | Scottish National Party (SNP) | 1,661 | 05 May 2022 |
| Kirkcaldy North | David Ross | Labour Party | 1,804 | 05 May 2022 |
| Kirkcaldy North | James Leslie | Conservative and Unionist Party | 789 | 05 May 2022 |
I · Demographics
Demographic profile unavailable for this constituency.
J · Public spending
HMT publishes headline spending identifiable by region in PESA. Constituency-level capital allocations (Levelling-Up Fund, Towns Fund, UKSPF, transport capital, BEIS R&D) are published as separate departmental datasets. We are evaluating the cleanest reconciliation for a per-constituency view.