Michael Shanks, MP for Rutherglen
Michael Shanks has been an MP since 2023. Currently: Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero).
Roles and committees
Posts held in government or opposition, and committee seats, as Parliament records them.
In government
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) | 2025 to now | Now |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) | 2024 to 2025 |
In opposition
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Minister (Scotland) (Scotland Office) | 2023 to 2024 |
Committees
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Planning and Infrastructure Bill | 2025 | |
| Great British Energy Bill | 2024 | |
| Scottish Affairs Committee | 2024 |
Source: UK Parliament Members API · Parliament’s own page
Declared interests
MPs must publish certain paid work, gifts, donations and other interests. This is a record of what they declared, not a suggestion that anything is wrong.
Michael Shanks has 4 interests currently registered.
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous | A trustee of Glasgow Disabled Scouts. This is an unpaid role. | 1 Nov 2023 |
| Miscellaneous | A member of General Teaching Council for Scotland. This is an unpaid role. | 1 Nov 2023 |
| Miscellaneous | A trustee of Epilepsy Scotland. This is an unpaid role. | 1 Nov 2023 |
| Miscellaneous | A trustee of Interfaith Glasgow. This is an unpaid role. | 1 Nov 2023 |
Source: Register of Members’ Financial Interests · Parliament’s own page
Questions
MPs can ask ministers questions in writing. The questions show what an MP is working on, which votes cannot.
Michael Shanks has not asked any written questions in the last 12 months. Government ministers cannot ask them, so this can simply reflect an MP’s role.
Source: Written Questions API · Updated 4 Oct 2026
Expenses
MPs claim back money for running an office and working in two places. An independent body, IPSA, publishes every claim. This is what was paid in 2025-26.
54 claims. For comparison, across the 657 MPs in IPSA’s file the middle MP was paid £18,469 and the average was £19,699.
Source: IPSA, individual business costs data · About this data
Election result and area
Michael Shanks represents Rutherglen. Here is who won there at the last general election, and a few numbers about the area.
Labour
votes ahead of second place
of people who could vote did
Michael Shanks won with 51% of the votes, and Katy Loudon (Scottish National Party) came second with 30%.
Votes for each party
Every candidate
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Shanks | Labour | 21,460 | 50.5% |
| Katy Loudon | Scottish National Party | 12,693 | 29.9% |
| David Stark | Reform UK | 2,685 | 6.3% |
| Gary Burns | Conservative | 2,420 | 5.7% |
| Gloria Adebo | Liberal Democrat | 1,714 | 4.0% |
| Bill Bonnar | Scottish Socialist Party | 541 | 1.3% |
| Jim Eadie | Alba Party | 497 | 1.2% |
| John McArthur | Scottish Family Party | 321 | 0.8% |
| Andrew Daly | Independent | 153 | 0.4% |
2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.
Your area at a glance
Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.
How they vote
In the last 12 months Michael Shanks took part in 153 Commons votes.
More detail on how they vote
Michael Shanks voted the same way as their party in 152 of the 152 votes where parties gave instructions (100%), and went the other way in 0.
What does this mean?
Parties tell their MPs how to vote. Most MPs usually follow that. A high or low count says nothing on its own about whether an MP is good or bad, and we do not rank MPs by it. We only count votes where parties gave instructions, not free votes. How we count it
Recent votes
| Date | Vote | They voted | Compared with party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep | End of life for terminally ill adults: the first main vote | Against | Free vote |
| 10 Sep | Social housing: an attempt to block it | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
See every vote on Parliament’s site
Has this changed over time?
View data table
| Month | This MP | Party average |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Nov 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Dec 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Jan 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Feb 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Mar 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Apr 26 | 100% | 100% |
| May 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jun 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jul 26 | 100% | 99% |
| Sep 26 | 100% | 100% |
Source: Commons Votes API
This page states what the record shows. It does not say why an MP voted as they did. How we calculate this