MP Cox voted in person on just two days in 13 months

SIR GEOFFREY COX, the Tory MP under fire over his vast second job earnings, voted in person in Parliament on just two days over a 13-month period.

Sir Geoffrey, the former attorney general and a working barrister, earned more than £1million last year for work outside of Parliament.

Earlier this year, Sir Geoffrey voted remotely from the Caribbean, according to the Daily Mail, when he was reportedly advising the government of the British Virgin Islands.

Downing Street appeared to reprimand the Tory MP after that surfaced, with a spokesman saying “MPS’ primary job is and must be to serve their constituents”. Labour also called for an “urgent independent investigation”.

During the pandemic MPS could vote by “proxy”, allowing someone else to vote in their place – meaning they did not have to be in Parliament.

The Daily Telegraph has gone through Sir Geoffrey’s voting record from June 2020 to July 2021, when all MPS were able to use proxy voting. In that period Sir Geoffrey cast 243 votes, according to public records. However, 232 of them were voted for by proxy – meaning the votes were not made in person by the MP.

Only on Sept 23 and Sept 30 last year did Sir Geoffrey register votes in person. On those days, he cast 11 votes. Critics have argued Sir Geoffrey has spent too much time focussing on his legal work rather than his duties as an MP. He has spoken only once in the House of Commons since losing his job as attorney general in a reshuffle last year.

He is by no means the only MP to have used proxy voting, which allowed politicians working from home during Covid restrictions to continue voting.

In a further development, it emerged last night that Labour has referred Sir Geoffrey for investigation to the parliamentary standards commissioner over claims he used his Commons office to conduct private legal work, The Times reported.

Sir Geoffrey, his Parliament and constituency offices, were not available for comment last night. A wider debate about whether MPS should be allowed to have second jobs has broken out after the case of Owen Paterson, who quit as a Tory MP last week. Sir Geoffrey has earned more than £1 million from outside legal work over the past year on top of his £82,000 salary as a backbencher, according to MP declarations of interest.

The Daily Mail reported he arrived for legal work in the British Virgin Islands on April 26 this year and made parliamentary votes while there.

Sir Geoffrey is yet to comment on those reports.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister’s view is that MPS’ primary job is and must be to serve their constituents and to represent their interests in Parliament. They should be visible in their constituencies and available to help their constituents.”