Honiton & Sidmouth / data
Richard Foord · Liberal Democrats · sitting since 23 Jun 2022 · every division, speech and committee appearance.
Since election
1401days
from 23 Jun 2022
Divisions
290
of 504 possible
Attendance
58%
214 absent / paired
Whip alignment
99%
vs party majority
Speeches
355
209 debates
Written Qs
76
75 answered
Committees
1
memberships
Expenses
£308k paid
FY 2024–2025 · 109 claims
Interests
1
1 category
A · Overview
Issue volume
Top issues by total divisions voted — engagement only, not direction.
| Issue | Volume | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Taxation | 64 | |
| Economy | 48 | |
| Employment | 39 | |
| Crime & Policing | 31 | |
| Education | 26 | |
| Welfare and Benefits | 18 | |
| Pensions | 17 | |
| Schools | 17 |
Speech topics
Words spoken, by topic. Source: Hansard.
| Topic | Debates | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Local Government | 37 | 10,916 |
| Defence | 74 | 10,832 |
| Economy Jobs | 74 | 9,313 |
| Health | 32 | 6,816 |
| Social Care | 26 | 6,178 |
| Culture Community | 20 | 5,188 |
| Transport | 12 | 4,711 |
| Environment | 27 | 4,510 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Jun 2025 | Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: New Clause 2Vote on New Clause 2 to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, debated alongside related amendments including provisions on guidance,… | Free vote | Aye |
| 13 Jun 2025 | Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: New Clause 1Vote on New Clause 1 to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, a private member's bill on assisted dying. Based on available debate c… | Free vote | Aye |
C · Speeches
| Date | Contribution | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Apr 2026 | Driver and Vehicle Licensing AgencyMy hon. Friend mentions the business of medical decisions. In most cases, MPs and our caseworkers do not have the medical knowledge to be able to determine somebody’s fitness to dr… TransportHealthCrime | 60 |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Car Insurance Industry: FraudIt is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for securing the debate. The cases she re… CrimeCost Of LivingTechnology | 158 |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Car Insurance Industry: FraudYes, I can. The car was damaged, but thankfully the third-party driver did exactly the right thing: they came forward immediately with no dispute, no exaggeration and no injury. Li… CrimeCost Of LivingTechnology | 658 |
| 22 Apr 2026 | EngagementsQ7. Leaders can delegate responsibility but cannot delegate accountability. Lord Carrington learned that in the Army, and he lived it as Foreign Secretary when Argentina invaded th… DefenceImmigrationEconomy Jobs | 63 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)I want to look at a couple of pieces of evidence, one of which was released in the tranche of documents—volume 1 of the return to the Humble Address. This is a December 2024 email … | 105 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)In that time when you were the designate permanent under-secretary, what conversations did you have with advisers or officials that might have led you to believe that Lord Mandelso… | 42 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)Certainly, and perhaps the Committee will take evidence from them or others. The national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, when he was reflecting on this time last September, rec… | 58 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)Going back to the point when Sir Philip was still permanent under-secretary, it is reported by, I think it’s Sam Coates, that Morgan McSweeney, the chief of staff, rang Sir Philip … | 45 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)Does that accord with your impression when you took over from Sir Philip? | 13 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)Going back to the point when Sir Philip was still permanent under-secretary, it is reported by Sam Coates that Morgan McSweeney, the chief of staff, rang Sir Philip and said in ter… | 42 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)Does that accord with your impression when you took over from Sir Philip? | 13 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)I want to look at a couple of pieces of evidence, one of which was released in the tranche of documents—volume 1 of the return to the Humble Address. This is a December 2024 email … | 105 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)Thank you very much, Sir Olly, for appearing before us. You have explained that a lot of these decisions were made before you were appointed as permanent under-secretary. I am curi… | 50 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)Certainly, and perhaps the Committee will take evidence from them or others. The national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, when he was reflecting on this time last September, rec… | 58 |
| 21 Apr 2026 | Foreign Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (HC 385)Well, I will just say that it was, “Just approve it,” with a term stronger than that. | 17 |
D · Written questions
Top departments
| Department | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Social Care | 13 | 17.1% |
| Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 11 | 14.5% |
| Department for Work and Pensions | 10 | 13.2% |
| Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | 6 | 7.9% |
| Department for Education | 5 | 6.6% |
| Department for Transport | 5 | 6.6% |
| Ministry of Defence | 4 | 5.3% |
| Treasury | 4 | 5.3% |
Most recent
| Date | Department | Question | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Apr 2026 | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will (a) publicly condemn the (i) human rights situation and (ii) use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and (b) make representations to her Saudi cou… | Pending |
| 20 Feb 2026 | Department for Work and Pensions | To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of fraud in relation to (a) Pension Credit and (b) the Winter Fuel Allowance. | Answered |
| 30 Jan 2026 | Ministry of Defence | To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department's policy of considering the legal basis and policy rationale when approving foreign nations’ use of UK military bases for operational purposes also applies to the use of the… | Answered |
| 30 Jan 2026 | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure levels of flood recovery funding reflects the cumulative impact of successive named storms on the same communities. | Answered |
| 21 Jan 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she is taking steps to ensure that private lenders who arranged to provide money to countries under UK legislation are (a) prevented from suing those countries when they are in debt distress a… | Answered |
| 12 Jan 2026 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, following the conclusion of the public inquiry into the Port of London Authority Harbour Revision Order, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Port of London Authority is operati… | Answered |
| 16 Dec 2025 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees sections of her Department's Environmental Improvement Plan, published on 1 December 2025, what disc… | Answered |
| 26 Nov 2025 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to amend the Protected Landscapes Duty. | Answered |
| 20 Nov 2025 | Department for Work and Pensions | To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the symptom lists used in disability and capability assessments for people with fibromyalgia; and whether his Department plans to update tha… | Answered |
| 20 Nov 2025 | Department of Health and Social Care | To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the UK Resilience Academy's Exercising Best Practice Guidance, whether external expert observers and evaluators have been involved in Exercise Pegasus; and what ste… | Answered |
| 20 Nov 2025 | Department for Transport | To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the 2022 South Wales Trunk Road Agent review finding on the M48 central safety barrier; and what steps her Departmen… | Answered |
| 20 Nov 2025 | Department of Health and Social Care | To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Recommendations 6 and 7 of Module 1 of the UK Covid 19 Inquiry, what steps he is taking to (1) gather and (2) publish findings, lessons and recommendations within t… | Answered |
| 18 Nov 2025 | Ministry of Defence | To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure complaints in his Department exceeded the required 50-working-day timeframe for issuing an outcome in the latest period for which data is av… | Answered |
| 05 Nov 2025 | Ministry of Defence | To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve (a) transparency and (b) communication in cases of alleged armed forces pension overpayments. | Answered |
| 27 Oct 2025 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will ensure that section 245 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 is not amended to reduce the level of protection for National (a) Parks and (b) Landsca… | Answered |
E · Committees
| Committee | Role | House | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign Affairs CommitteeSelect | Member | Commons | 28 Oct 2024 | present |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | 27 | 36,094 | 11.7% |
| Office Costs | 60 | 34,538 | 11.2% |
| Staffing | 2 | 229,477 | 74.6% |
| MP Travel | 0 | 4,676 | 1.5% |
| Staff Travel | 0 | 2,673 | 0.9% |
| Dependant Travel | 0 | 338 | 0.1% |
Top itemised cost types
| Cost type | Category | Claims | Paid (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | Accommodation | 9 | 27,147 |
| Hotel - London | Accommodation | 17 | 7,446 |
| Pooled staffing services | Staffing | 1 | 6,530 |
| Advertising and contact cards | Office Costs | 4 | 4,114 |
| Equipment - purchase | Office Costs | 8 | 2,500 |
| Stationery & printing | Office Costs | 20 | 2,013 |
| Council tax | Accommodation | 1 | 1,501 |
| Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Office Costs | 18 | 1,171 |
| Software & applications | Office Costs | 3 | 825 |
| Recruitment Services &Costs | Office Costs | 1 | 401 |
| Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection | Office Costs | 3 | 399 |
| Insurance - contents | Office Costs | 1 | 55 |
Most recent
| Date | Category | Description | Paid (£) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 Mar 2025 | Accommodation Rent | 2024-25 [***] rent pro-rata | -853 | Paid |
| 20 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 182 | Paid |
| 20 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 170 | Paid |
| 20 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 158 | Paid |
| 11 Mar 2025 | Accommodation Rent | Rent | 3,500 | Paid |
| 11 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Advertising and contact cards | NEWSQUEST MEDIA GROUP [200011725-6553] | 527 | Paid |
| 05 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection | WWW. [200011725-3558] | 351 | Paid |
| 05 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Sundries | 61 | Paid |
| 03 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Other office equipment | 549 | Paid |
| 03 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Equipment - purchase | Other office equipment | 40 | Paid |
| 14 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | [200011798-96] | 128 | Paid |
| 12 Feb 2025 | Staffing Volunteer - agreed arrangement costs | Subsistence | 1 | Paid |
| 11 Feb 2025 | Accommodation Rent | Rent | 3,500 | Paid |
| 31 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 22 | Paid |
| 17 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 68 | Paid |
| 13 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs | Fire extinguisher for office | 10 | Paid |
| 13 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection | Bin liners for bins in constituency office | 8 | Paid |
| 09 Jan 2025 | Accommodation Rent | Rent | 3,500 | Paid |
| 20 Dec 2024 | Office Costs Insurance - contents | HOWDEN UK BROKERS LIMI [200011799-124] | 55 | Paid |
| 13 Dec 2024 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 45 | 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.
8. Miscellaneous1 entry
18 Apr 2024
A member of the Advisory Council for the Council on Geostrategy, an independent non-profit organisation that generates new geostrategic thinking for a more competitive age. This is an unpaid role.
Date interest arose: 23 May 2023
(Registered 9 June 2023)
H · Ward results
Most recent winning councillor in each ward — 22 wards, 39 councillor seats.
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Votes | Election |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axminster | Paul Hayward | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 1,219 | 04 May 2023 |
| Axminster | Sarah L Jackson | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 1,065 | 04 May 2023 |
| Axminster | Simon Smith | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 893 | 04 May 2023 |
| Beer Branscombe | John D Heath | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 431 | 04 May 2023 |
| Bradninch | Luke Taylor | Liberal Democrats | 650 | 04 May 2023 |
| Coly Valley | Helen E Parr | Conservative and Unionist Party | 845 | 04 May 2023 |
| Coly Valley | Paul Arnott | Liberal Democrats | 959 | 04 May 2023 |
| Cullompton Padbrook | Lloyd Knight | Liberal Democrats | 457 | 04 May 2023 |
| Cullompton Padbrook | Sue Robinson | Liberal Democrats | 370 | 04 May 2023 |
| Cullompton St Andrews | Emma Buczkowski | Liberal Democrats | 636 | 04 May 2023 |
| Cullompton St Andrews | James Timothy Buczkowski | Liberal Democrats | 634 | 04 May 2023 |
| Cullompton St Andrews | Nikki Woollatt | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 479 | 04 May 2023 |
| Cullompton Vale | Matt Fletcher | Liberal Democrats | 166 | 04 May 2023 |
| Dunkeswell Otterhead | Colin Brown | Conservative and Unionist Party | 741 | 04 May 2023 |
| Dunkeswell Otterhead | Yehudi Levine | Liberal Democrats | 758 | 04 May 2023 |
| Feniton | Alasdair Bruce | Conservative and Unionist Party | 359 | 04 May 2023 |
| Honiton St Michaels | Jenny Brown | Conservative and Unionist Party | 708 | 04 May 2023 |
| Honiton St Michaels | Roy F Collins | The Liberal Party | 534 | 04 May 2023 |
| Honiton St Michaels | Violet Bonetta | Labour Party | 598 | 04 May 2023 |
| Honiton St Pauls | John O'Leary | Conservative and Unionist Party | 460 | 04 May 2023 |
| Honiton St Pauls | Tony McCollum | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 642 | 04 May 2023 |
| Newbridges | Iain Chubb | Conservative and Unionist Party | 423 | 04 May 2023 |
| Newton Poppleford Harpford | Chris Burhop | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 633 | 04 May 2023 |
| Ottery St Mary | Bethany J Collins | Labour Party | 794 | 04 May 2023 |
| Ottery St Mary | Peter H Faithfull | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 944 | 04 May 2023 |
| Ottery St Mary | Vicky Johns | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 1,565 | 04 May 2023 |
| Seaton | Dan Ledger | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 1,404 | 04 May 2023 |
| Seaton | Del Haggerty | Conservative and Unionist Party | 858 | 04 May 2023 |
| Seaton | Marcus Hartnell | Conservative and Unionist Party | 1,167 | 04 May 2023 |
| Sidmouth Rural | John Loudoun | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 586 | 04 May 2023 |
| Sidmouth Sidford | Marianne P Rixson | Liberal Democrats | 1,256 | 04 May 2023 |
| Sidmouth Sidford | Mike Goodman | Conservative and Unionist Party | 1,191 | 04 May 2023 |
| Sidmouth Sidford | Stuart Hughes | Conservative and Unionist Party | 1,216 | 04 May 2023 |
| Sidmouth Town | Ian Barlow | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 994 | 04 May 2023 |
| Sidmouth Town | Sophie Richards | Conservative and Unionist Party | 811 | 04 May 2023 |
| Tale Vale | Richard O Jefferies | Liberal Democrats | 627 | 04 May 2023 |
| Trinity | Susan A Westerman | Liberal Democrats | 512 | 04 May 2023 |
| West Hill Aylesbeare | Jess Bailey | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 897 | 04 May 2023 |
| Yarty | Duncan C Mackinder | Liberal Democrats | 442 | 04 May 2023 |
I · Demographics
| Indicator | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2021 Census) | 88,408 | Electorate 75,537 (2024) |
| Median age | 53 | years |
| Degree-educated | 32.4% | level 4 or above |
| Ethnicity (White) | 97.4% | 2021 Census ethnic group |
| Owner-occupied | 73.9% | households |
| Private-rented | 15.8% | households |
| Social-rented | 10.2% | households |
| Employment rate | 50.6% | 16-64 in work |
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.