TWO Dorset MPs have yet to register a single question in Parliament since they were elected last year.

Conservatives Richard Drax and Bob Walter have also contributed to just a handful of Commons debates since the May election.

By contrast, other Dorset MPs have tabled hundreds of questions and spoken in dozens of parliamentary debates since the election.

While the figures are not a definitive guide to effectiveness, the Taxpayers’ Alliance said constituents wanted to know their MP was working hard for them in Westminster.

Charlotte Linacre, campaign manager for the pressure group, said: “Taxpayers in Dorset might be concerned to see their MPs haven’t been speaking up.

“Voters want to know their MPs will act for them – it’s what they are paid for. They need to work hard to show they are giving taxpayers value for money.”

Mr Drax, who swept to a 7,000 majority in South Dorset in May, said he had been busying himself primarily with constituency business.

He said: “I am trying to meet as many people as possible and work through lots of local issues.

“I have debated issues in the Commons that I think are crucial to my constituents, such as defence and the coastguard.

“As a new MP, I have spent a lot of time sitting in the chamber listening and learning.”

Mr Walter was unavailable for comment when the Daily Echo tried to contact him.

Poole MP Robert Syms, who was re-elected for the third time in May, tabled 88 questions in the months prior to last year’s election.

He has however, asked just seven since then.

He said he had been busy in his role as a select committee chairman and added that an MP’s work should be assessed over the course of their whole term.

Factfile

Dorset MPs’ activity in Westminster in the last year (figures courtesy of TheyWorkForyou.com):

• Richard Drax (Con, Dorset South) – 8 debates spoken in, 0 questions answered, 67 per cent of votes attended.

• Bob Walter (Con, North Dorset) – 9 debates, 0 questions, 64 per cent votes.

• Robert Syms (Con, Poole) – 14 debates, 69 questions (7 since election, 88 from Jan-Apr 2010), 95 per cent votes.

• Desmond Swayne (Con, New forest West) – 19 debates, 17 questions (15 since election, 12 from Jan-April 2010), 85 per cent votes.

• Chris Chope (Con, Christchurch) – 73 debates, 108 questions this year (75 since election, 38 from Jan-April), 57 per cent votes.

• Tobias Ellwood (Con, Bournemouth East) – 41 debates, 36 questions (32 since election, 46 from Jan-Apr 2010), 81 per cent votes.

• Conor Burns (Con, Bournemouth West) – 15 debates, 62 questions (first question September 15), 90 per cent votes.

• Annette Brooke (LD, Mid-Dorset and North Poole) – 54 debates, 130 questions (129 since election, 30 from Jan-Apr 2010), 87 per cent votes.