Votes and decisions

How to understand a vote result

A recorded parliamentary vote shows how the House divided on a particular question. The figures tell you which side won and by how much, but the title, motion and parliamentary context are needed to understand what the result actually decided.

See a real example Votes and decisions

Scope of this guide: This guide focuses on Commons divisions, which use Aye and No. The House of Lords uses Content and Not Content. In either House, the meaning of the result depends on the question put to the House.

Short answer

A recorded division gives the numbers voting for and against the formal question put to the House. Those figures establish the numerical result. The motion, amendment or procedural context determines the wider significance of that result.

Formal question An Aye is a vote in favour of the question put to the House; a No is a vote against it.

Numerical result The higher total is the winning side; the difference between the two totals is the majority.

Parliamentary context The vote type, stage and surrounding business indicate what the decision changed.

Interpreting the result

The wording of the question matters

An Aye is a vote in favour of the specific question put to the House and a No is a vote against it. That question may concern an entire motion, a particular amendment or a procedural step. The scope of the question therefore determines what can reasonably be inferred from the totals.

1 Question: the motion or amendment defines what was being decided.

2 Context: the vote type and parliamentary stage place the question in the wider process.

3 Result: Ayes, Noes and majority show how the division was decided.

Understanding each part of the result

These are the core figures and labels shown on Project Open Gov and in official Commons division records.

Ayes and Noes

Ayes are votes in favour of the formal question. Noes are votes against it.

Winning side

The side with the higher recorded total wins the division, subject to the normal rules for a tie.

Majority

The majority is the difference between the recorded totals. It measures the margin in that division, not the number of MPs supporting the Government.

Division number

A division number is an official reference within parliamentary records. The date, House and title provide the context needed to identify the vote reliably.

Votes cast

This is the sum of the Aye and No totals shown for the division. It should not be read as the full membership of the House.

Result wording

Labels such as “Motion agreed” or “Question negatived” describe what happened to that question.

Worked example from Project Open Gov

A real result from the Votes feature

In this division, the Commons considered whether to approve draft planning regulations. The motion was agreed by 283 Ayes to 182 Noes, a majority of 101.

The card uses the same proportional semicircle and headline figures as the live Project Open Gov Votes feature.

View this vote on Project Open Gov Open official division

Statutory instrument vote Motion agreed

Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026

8 July 2026 · Commons Division 53

Ayes283

Noes182

Majority101

Votes cast465

The semicircle shows the proportional share of Ayes and Noes; one dot does not represent one MP.

How to read the party breakdown

Party breakdowns show how recorded Ayes and Noes are distributed between parties. They do not, by themselves, explain an individual member’s reasoning or the reason a member did not record a vote.

What it can show

How many recorded Ayes and Noes came from each party.
Whether a party’s recorded votes were mostly on one side or divided.
Whether smaller parties or independents affected the numerical result.

What it cannot establish on its own

Why an individual member voted that way.
Whether every absent member deliberately abstained.
The full effect of party instructions, pairing or other circumstances.

Absences, abstentions and tellers

A division record identifies recorded Ayes and Noes. A member who does not appear in either list may have been absent, paired, unavailable or not voting for another reason; the division record does not normally distinguish between those possibilities.

Members without a recorded Aye or No

The absence of a recorded vote does not identify a single reason. A member may have been absent, paired, unavailable, unable to vote, or may simply not have taken part in that division.

Tellers and occasional discrepancies

Tellers count and report the numbers on each side, while members’ names are recorded separately. Small differences can occasionally arise, and official records may later be corrected. Project Open Gov may display a note where the available figures require explanation.

What the result does not establish

Majority is the numerical margin. It does not show that every MP supported the winning side.

A missing name has several possible explanations. The division record alone does not normally show why a member did not cast a recorded vote.

A division number needs context. The date, House and title help identify the correct result in the parliamentary record.

A division may be one stage in a longer process. A Bill, amendment or statutory instrument can still require further parliamentary steps.

How Project Open Gov presents vote results

Project Open Gov combines official division data with a descriptive title, result wording, Ayes and Noes, majority, party breakdown, division number and links to the source material. Where possible, votes are also linked to a related Bill or other relevant context.

Vote-type labels are an explanatory aid. Where Parliament does not provide a classification directly, the label may be inferred from the motion wording and should be checked against the official record.

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