Rebellious MP Mark Reckless

Mark Reckless MP for Rochester and Strood was the third most rebellious Conservative MP in England. He has defied the Government line 20 times - mostly over Europe but also over Tuition fees.

Tracey Crouch has "rebelled" twice and was absent/abstained for the Tuition fees vote and Rehman Chishti has not rebelled once.

When asked about this dubious honour he said;

The Conservative Whips in action.

In the short term it probably is a trade off [Against a Ministerial job]  but in the long term its important to stand up for what you believe in and what your constituency want.

This is what Parliamentary MPs should do. This was one of the reasons a PR style government was not chosen for the electoral reform referendum as everyone likes a point of contact and it keeps MPs responsible to someone. After all is your loyalty primarily to the Prime Minister? The party? The Government or your Constituency? I'd say the latter.

Every MP is different as is every constituency and the difference could be that one constituency is more Pro Europe than another.

The other thing that some politico's and commentators forget is that Political parties are not all one voice.
If you join the Liberal Democrats you instantly agree with Nick...

I can assure you that is certainly not the case.

The same is true with national Politics and "Rebel MPs" should be congratulated for having the balls to stand up for what they believe in. (In fact Anyone who stands firm and true to their personal beliefs should be commended for it.) Members don't agree with everything their leader says or even everything that is in their manifesto, even if they do they don't necessarily agree with their leader's application of it or even a Government's answers to national problems. There is also the issue of personal honour and pledges. MPs like Greg Mulholland and Julian Huppert voted "No" on tuition - not just because it was a bad idea but because they had pledged to vote No and run promising to vote No.

John Stuart Mill wrote in "On Liberty" that one should not be dominated by the will of the majority and nor should they.

A rebel MP is not a problem and as long as they are representing their constituents then they are indeed doing what they are meant to - likewise an MP that follows the party line and is following the wishes of their constituents or prove that they are working in their best interests are also doing their job.