UK Explained
MP profile

Jess Asato, MP for Lowestoft

Jess Asato has been an MP since 2024. Currently: Education Committee.

Roles and committees

Posts held in government or opposition, and committee seats, as Parliament records them.

Committees

PostWhen
Education Committee2024 to nowNow

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.

Jess Asato has 4 interests currently registered.

TypeWhat was registeredRegistered
Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MPFrancesca Perrin - £25,000.006 Jul 2026
MiscellaneousI have a conditional fee arrangement with my lawyers, AWO (the trading name of HNK Litigation Limited) in relation to a forthcoming court case against xAI. The case relates to the ‘Grok’ AI platform operated by xAI. I have additional support from Reset Tech which is dependent on the outcome of the case.1 Jun 2026
MiscellaneousAppointed as a Director for The Social Market Foundation (SMF) which is widely recognised as Britain’s leading cross-party think tank. Its mission is to ensure that markets and government can work in partnership to serve the interests of society. The SMF pursues this goal by producing high-quality, independent, and pragmatic public policy research and fostering debate across a broad range of social and economic issues.25 Mar 2025
MiscellaneousTrustee of The Dartmouth Street Trust, which makes grants for the promotion of studies in political, economic and social science and cognate educational subjects, and for the promotion of education and dissemination of knowledge in such science and subjects.30 Sep 2024

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.

Jess Asato asked 63 written questions in the last 12 months.

Who they asked

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology14
Department for Education13
Home Office8
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero7
House of Commons Commission2

Latest questions

13 Jul 2026 · to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Answered 17 Jul 2026
2 Jun 2026 · to the House of Commons Commission
Answered 17 Jun 2026
2 Jun 2026 · to the House of Commons Commission
Answered 17 Jun 2026
1 Jun 2026 · to the Department for Education
Answered 15 Jun 2026
1 Jun 2026 · to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Answered 11 Jun 2026

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.

PAID IN 2025-26
£23,381
Office costs · claims for running an office£17,846
Accommodation · claims for somewhere to stay£5,534

61 claims. For comparison, across the 657 MPs in IPSA’s file the middle MP was paid £18,469 and the average was £19,699.

Costs depend on many things, such as where an MP’s area is, what premises and staff they need, and whether they joined or left part-way through the year. This page does not say whether any amount is right or wrong. It covers the claims in IPSA’s individual business costs file, so it is not the full cost of an MP’s office.

Source: IPSA, individual business costs data · About this data

Election result and area

Jess Asato represents Lowestoft. Here is who won there at the last general election, and a few numbers about the area.

WINNER, 2024
Jess Asato

Labour

MAJORITY
2,016

votes ahead of second place

TURNOUT
56%

of people who could vote did

Jess Asato won with 35% of the votes, and Peter Aldous (Conservative) came second with 30%.

Votes for each party

Labour35% · 14,464
Conservative30% · 12,448
Reform UK25% · 10,328
Green Party7% · 3,095
Liberal Democrat4% · 1,489
Every candidate
CandidatePartyVotesShare
Jess AsatoLabour14,46434.6%
Peter AldousConservative12,44829.8%
June MummeryReform UK10,32824.7%
Toby HammondGreen Party3,0957.4%
Adam RobertsonLiberal Democrat1,4893.6%

2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.

Your area at a glance

Typical pay for full-time workers who live here
£689 a week
This areaUK: £767 a week

Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Working-age people claiming unemployment-related benefits
4.0%
This areaUK: 3.9%

Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.

At a general election each area elects one MP, and the candidate with the most votes wins, even without more than half. The area figures describe the people who live here. They do not show whether any MP or vote is the cause.

Open this area on its own page →

How they vote

In the last 12 months Jess Asato took part in 200 Commons votes.

More detail on how they vote

Jess Asato voted the same way as their party in 198 of the 198 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

DateVoteThey votedCompared with party
11 SepEnd of life for terminally ill adults: the first main voteAgainstFree vote
11 SepA vote to end a debateAgainstFree vote
10 SepSocial housing: an attempt to block itAgainstSame as party
4 SepMotion to sit in privateAgainstSame as party
2 SepVoting and elections: the final voteForSame as party
2 SepVoting and elections: a proposed changeAgainstSame as party

See every vote on Parliament’s site

Has this changed over time?

90%95%100%Oct 25Sep 26
This MPParty average
View data table
MonthThis MPParty average
Oct 25100%100%
Nov 25100%100%
Dec 25100%100%
Jan 26100%100%
Feb 26100%100%
Mar 26100%100%
Apr 26100%100%
May 26100%100%
Jun 26100%100%
Jul 26100%99%
Sep 26100%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