North Somerset Labour Party
North Somerset Tory MP Liam Fox has spent 127 days on donor-funded trips abroad since the last General Election. He has declared 30 trips across 14 different countries.
17 different donors have shelled out a total of £145,233 for Dr Fox’s flights and accommodation. Costs have reached up to almost £5,000 per night.
North Somerset deserves better than a part-time Tory MP who spends his time on expensive trips abroad instead of representing his constituents in North Somerset.
List of Trips
| Destination | Donor | Value | Date | Days |
| France | ||||
| SCI Kerr | £3,431 | 2/8/21 | 15 | |
| Paris | Alliance for Public Awareness | £1,513 | 1/7/23 | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia | ||||
| Riyadh | Emad El Dukair | £900 | 26/8/21 | 3 |
| Canada | ||||
| Halifax | Halifax International Securuity Forum | £6,534 | 19/11/21 | 3 |
| USA | ||||
| NY and Washington | Conservative Friends of America | £5,404 | 15/11/21 | 5 |
| Georgia | Heritage Foundation | £14,990 | 5/1/22 | 4 |
| Washington, D.C. | Conservative Friends of America | £6,615 | 25/7/22 | 3 |
| South Carolina | The Charleston Meeting | £5,997 | 9/11/22 | 4 |
| Washington | Elnet UK Ltd | £6,276 | 28/11/22 | 5 |
| Washington, D.C. and NY | Abraham Accords (UK) | £8,525 | 19/3/23 | 3 |
| Washington, D.C. | Transatlantic Bond Ltd | £13,299 | 29/1/24 | 6 |
| UAE | ||||
| Dubai | Abraham Accords (UK) | £5,429 | 3/1/23 | 5 |
| Dubai and Abu Dhabi | Middle East Forum Ltd | £2,741 | 9/1/22 | 5 |
| Dubai | Middle East Forum Ltd | £3,552 | 27/1/22 | 4 |
| Dubai | Abraham Accords (UK) | £7,363 | 28/10/22 | 3 |
| Hungary | ||||
| Budapest | Hungary Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade | £2,810 | 20/1/22 | 2 |
| Poland | ||||
| Lodz | University of Lodz | £100 | 9/3/22 | 3 |
| Belgium | ||||
| Bruges | Atlantic Society, College of Europe | £500 | 15/3/22 | 2 |
| Bahrain | ||||
| Manama | Middle East Forum Ltd | £8,835 | 4/4/22 | 4 |
| Abraham Accords (UK) | £4,882 | 12/6/23 | 2 | |
| Abraham Accords (UK) Ltd | £5,424 | 5/10/23 | 7 | |
| Manama | Government of Bahrain | £3,590 | 16/11/23 | 6 |
| Morocco | ||||
| The Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco to the UK | £2,450 | 13/5/22 | 4 | |
| Tangier | Amadeus Instutute | £2,837 | 3/11/22 | 3 |
| Abraham Accords (UK) | £2,477 | 30/5/23 | 4 | |
| Albania | ||||
| Tirana | Alliance for Public Awareness | £1,871 | 22/7/22 | 3 |
| £1,252 | 30/3/23 | 3 | ||
| Switzerland | ||||
| Davos | UK office of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation | £4,553 | 18/1/23 | 2 |
| Jordan | ||||
| Amman | Abraham Accords (UK) | £3,879 | 19/4/23 | 5 |
| Paraguay | ||||
| Atenil S.A. | £7,195 | 13/8/23 | 8 | |
| Totals: | 145,223 | 127 |
Comparison
It is eye-opening to compare the days Fox has spent since the last General Election on trips versus the number of spoken contributions he has made in Parliament. Since the Government removed all Covid-19 travel restrictions in March 2022, Fox has made just 66 contributions compared to the 90 days he has spent abroad.
As shown in the graph below, in the 24 months since COVID travel restrictions were lifted, Fox has spent more days on trips than he has made contributions in Parliament in all but ten months.
What would Labour do differently?
Whilst Fox spent 45 days on donor-funded trips abroad in the last year and made just 30 contributions in parliament, Bristol’s four Labour MPs were working hard for their constituents in Westminster:
- Kerry McCarthy – 173 contributions, 4 days abroad;
- Karin Smyth – 50 contributions, 0 days abroad;
- Darren Jones – 41 contributions, 7 days abroad; and
- Thangam Debbonaire – 58 contributions, 0 days abroad.
Every single one of the local Labour MPs in Bristol made considerably more contributions than Liam Fox, and spent considerably fewer days on trips abroad..
We believe North Somerset deserves a Labour MP who will spend their time working hard for their constituents at home and in Westminster, not a part-time Tory who spends more time on expensive donor-funded trips abroad.
Sources
https://members.parliament.uk/member/223/registeredinterests https://members.parliament.uk/member/223/contributions
https://members.parliament.uk/member/1491/registeredinterests https://members.parliament.uk/member/1491/contributions
https://members.parliament.uk/member/4621/registeredinterests https://members.parliament.uk/member/4621/contributions
https://members.parliament.uk/member/4444/registeredinterests https://members.parliament.uk/member/4444/contributions
https://members.parliament.uk/member/4433/registeredinterests https://members.parliament.uk/member/4433/contributions