Basildon MP Angela Smith turned up to only a third of Commons votes in the last parliamentary session, but today defended herself by saying that her constituency and ministerial work come first.
Figures compiled from the official parliamentary magazine Hansard put Mrs Smith among the bottom 20 MPs in terms of the numbers of divisions or votes attended during 2003.
But Mrs Smith, who spends several days a week in Northern Ireland working as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, said that while she has not been able to spend as much time in Westminster as she would like, she was still working as hard as ever for people in Basildon and Belfast.
She said: "Being in Northern Ireland as often as I am it is obviously difficult for me to attend as many Commons votes, but my work attendance is probably more than most.
"My chief priorities are my ministerial job in Northern Ireland and my constituency work in Essex, and I have been very busy doing both of these."
Published Monday January 5, 2004
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