I think Gareth's post of 25 Sep 03 - 07:36 PM gives some examples of why people might vote for Kim Howell's if he was their local MP. If it wasn't for the licencing bill, I'd be prepared to vote of him as my MP if that was typical behaviour. Compare and contrast Kim with my own MP. I've looked through his voting records and, apart from the free vote on fox-hunting when many MPs rebelled, he has voted for the government line every single time (that he voted at all), and I can find no record of him asking any remotely critical question.

I would rather have an opinionated Kim than an opinionless rubber-stamp.