UK influence in Europe series: British MEPs lose most often in the European Parliament

How do British MEPs fare in the European Parliament? Using detailed voting records from 2004 until 2015, Simon Hix illustrates the percentage of times MEPs from different member states, European political groups, and national parties are on the ‘winning side’ in votes in the European Parliament.

The figures indicate that British MEPs do particularly poorly in comparison to those from other member states. This is partly a reflection of the fact that a large number of MEPs from the UK do not sit in the most powerful political groups, while even those parties that do sit in important groups, such as Labour, tend to vote against their own allies’ positions more frequently than other MEPs.

In a follow up post (see related url), Simon Hix breaks down the success by policy area, noting that British MEPs do reasonably well in some policy areas UK voters care about, such as internal market regulation, international trade, and international development, but are most marginalised on budget issues.

ESO: Background information: Does the UK win or lose in the Council of Ministers? / Is the UK at the top table in EU negotiations? / Is the UK Marginalised in the EU? http://www.europeansources.info/record/does-the-uk-win-or-lose-in-the-council-of-ministers-is-the-uk-at-the-top-table-in-eu-negotiations-is-the-uk-marginalised-in-the-eu/

Blog: LSE EuroppBlog, 12.01.16: UK influence in Europe series: The policy successes (and failures) of British MEPs http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2016/01/12/uk-influence-in-europe-series-the-policy-successes-and-failures-of-british-meps/

Blog: LSE EuroppBlog, 05.02.16: UK influence series: Do British MEPs win key positions of power in the European Parliament? http://bit.ly/1oc9VD3

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