James MacCleary, MP for Lewes
James MacCleary has been an MP since 2024. Currently: Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Defence).
Roles and committees
Posts held in government or opposition, and committee seats, as Parliament records them.
In opposition
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Defence) (Opposition Department) | 2025 to now | Now |
| Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Europe) (Opposition Department) | 2024 to 2025 |
Committees
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Finance Committee (Commons) | 2024 to 2026 |
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.
James MacCleary has 8 interests currently registered.
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources | Glyndebourne Enterprises Ltd - £360.00 | 30 Jul 2026 |
| Visits outside the UK | International visit to Italy between 24 October 2025 and 26 October 2025 | 16 Dec 2025 |
| Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources | National Liberal Club Ltd - £1,578.50 | 13 Oct 2024 |
| Miscellaneous | Director of Newhaven Fishing Community Interest Company. This is an unpaid role. | 3 Oct 2024 |
| Employment and earnings | District Councillor - Lewes District Council | 1 Aug 2024 |
| Employment and earnings - Ongoing paid employment | Agreement starting 02 May 2023 - £416.83 | 1 Aug 2024 |
| Employment and earnings - Ongoing paid employment | Agreement - £719.50 | 1 Aug 2024 |
| Employment and earnings | Councillor - East Sussex County Council | 1 Aug 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.
James MacCleary asked 421 written questions in the last 12 months.
Who they asked
Latest questions
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.
53 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
James MacCleary represents Lewes. Here is who won there at the last general election, and a few numbers about the area.
Liberal Democrat
votes ahead of second place
of people who could vote did
James MacCleary won with 51% of the votes, and Maria Caulfield (Conservative) came second with 27%.
Votes for each party
Every candidate
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| James MacCleary | Liberal Democrat | 26,895 | 50.6% |
| Maria Caulfield | Conservative | 14,271 | 26.8% |
| Bernard Brown | Reform UK | 6,335 | 11.9% |
| Danny Sweeney | Labour | 3,574 | 6.7% |
| Paul Keene | Green Party | 1,869 | 3.5% |
| Rowena Easton | Social Democratic Party | 229 | 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 James MacCleary took part in 166 Commons votes.
More detail on how they vote
James MacCleary voted the same way as their party in 163 of the 164 votes where parties gave instructions (99%), and went the other way in 1.
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 | For | Free vote |
| 11 Sep | A vote to end a debate | For | Free vote |
| 10 Sep | Social housing: an attempt to block it | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | For | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | For | Same as party |
See every vote on Parliament’s site
Times they voted against their party (1)
| Date | Vote | They voted | Most of their party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Jan | Tax changes (the Finance Bill): a proposed change | Against | For |
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 | 95% | 100% |
| Feb 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Mar 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Apr 26 | 100% | 100% |
| May 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jun 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jul 26 | 100% | 100% |
| 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