§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, if he will list for each magistrates bench where his Department is responsible for appointments(a) the political balance of the bench and (b) the voting pattern for the area. [121100]
§ Mr. LeslieInformation at bench level is not readily available. However, the table sets out the breakdown of magistrates political affiliations by commission area as at 1 April 2003. My officials do not maintain a central list of the corresponding voting patterns, which could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
863W
Political affiliation Commission area Total Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat Plaid Cymru Other Uncommitted Northamptonshire 344 169 77 53 0 4 41 Northumberland 189 65 41 28 1 3 51 North Wales 387 129 101 66 46 22 23 Nottinghamshire 652 229 181 69 0 8 165 Powys 83 26 11 16 3 12 15 South East London 413 147 101 58 0 13 94 South Wales 557 117 170 71 19 24 156 South-west London 369 158 74 74 0 28 35 South Yorkshire 728 191 242 106 0 25 164 Staffordshire 563 199 179 47 0 46 92 Suffolk 289 91 52 44 1 11 90 Surrey 364 152 63 37 0 41 71 Thames Valley 1,046 380 200 140 0 42 284 Tyne and Wear 793 204 280 102 0 50 157 Warwickshire 216 76 53 39 0 18 30 West Glamorgan 251 69 103 30 11 1 37 West Mercia 657 270 156 107 0 40 84 West Midlands 1,697 571 554 169 0 109 294 West Sussex 356 119 80 57 0 18 82 West Yorkshire 1,252 363 424 154 0 41 270 Wiltshire 269 110 47 46 0 29 37 Totals 24,419 8,395 6,221 3,199 131 1,500 4973 Percentage 100 34.4 25.5 13.1 0.5 6.1 4973