Criticism and Controversy
Frank Dobson has been the subject of controversy for living in a council flat whilst on a six figure ministerial salary. He continues to live in it, despite owning a large property in Yorkshire.
In the Labour leadership controversy following Tony Blair's declaration he would step down within a year of September 2006, Dobson called for Blair to step down right away and end uncertainty.
He also attacked Alan Milburn for making a 'terrible mess' of the NHS. Milburn had some hours earlier been mentioned by Charles Clarke as a possible future Labour leader.
Dobson has been criticised for hypocrisy for saying he was against Post Office closures, then voting for them in Parliament.
In the expenses scandal, he strongly supported the Speaker of the House in his attempts to block exposure of expenses - arguing he was merely being scapegoated (for instance on Radio 4, 10am, 16 May 2009). He also supported the Speaker in allowing a warrant-less search of the offices of a member of parliament, Damian Green.
A survey of his constituents showed that, in 2008, Dobson responded to 69 letters out of 269 sent through WriteToThem.com, putting him in 605th place out of 638 MPs for which data were available.
Read more about this topic: Frank Dobson
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