MP Efficiency Score: New Voting Trends During the Tenth Session

Key findings

1. The tenth session (from September 2023 to January 2024) set a record for the number of 100% reformers, with 22% of MPs supporting all reform bills (there were no anti-reform bills during this time).
2. Factions without a clear ideology (Restoration of Ukraine, For Future) show greater inconsistency in their voting patterns.
3. The efficiency score of MPs from the Restoration of Ukraine and PFLP groups, formed from the banned pro-Russian OPFL, continues to rise sharply. This may indicate that MPs are afraid to vote against the will of the mono-majority (the Servant of the People faction) or that there is an agreement to exchange votes for reduced scrutiny from law enforcement agencies toward members of the treacherous party.
4. The European Solidarity, PFLP, and Batkivshchyna factions are more focused on social issues and weakly support reforms in the areas of governance and finance.
5. “Rookie” MPs typically rank high in efficiency scores, but their performance gradually declines over time.
6. The average efficiency score of men and women in the Verkhovna Rada is the same (68%), but women are more likely to take moderate positions. There are fewer reformers (15% compared to 25% among men) and fewer anti-reformers (6% compared to 16% among men) among them.

Rankings leaders

Ranked first with a 100% score for the second consecutive session are the “rookies” Mykola Tararin and Nataliia Loktionova, who took their oaths during the ninth session. (Here and throughout, “rookies” refer to people’s deputies who took their seats in Parliament less than a year ago, excluding those who entered during the 2019 elections. Typically, an MP holds “rookie” status for two sessions.)

This is not surprising, as previous efficiency score assessments have shown that “rookie” MPs typically (though not always) occupy the top spots after one or two work sessions. However, their positions change over time.

After the end of the 8th session in February 2023, the top positions were held by Oleksandr Vasiuk (100%), Valentyna Korolenko-Usova (99%), and Oleksandr Bozhkov (97%)—all of whom began their work during the 7th session. After four sessions (as of February 2024), Vasiuk remains in second place with a rating of 98%, Korolenko-Usova’s rating has dropped to 91% (9th place), and Bozhkov has managed to retain third place. 

In the 9th convocation, there are 382 deputies who have been serving since 2019 and 19 “rookies.” After their first working session, the “rookies” occupied various positions in the rankings, ranging from the top to the bottom. However, over the course of the term, most “rookies” (55%) improved their effectiveness, with only 30% dropping to lower positions.

A similar trend (see Figure 1) is observed among the majority of MPs who entered Parliament in 2019.  

In third place in the rankings, with an efficiency score of 97%, are consistent reform supporters from Servant of the People: Oleksandr Pasichnyi, Vladlen Nekliudov (in Parliament since 2019), Serhii Kostriichuk, and Serhii Kozyr (in Parliament since the sixth session). They were joined in the 10th session by the previously mentioned Oleksandr Bozhkov.

Other leaders rated above 95% (in fourth and fifth places) have remained mostly consistent (see Table 1). Their ratings fluctuate slightly, within a range of ten percentage points. All of them began their work at the start of the 9th convocation. This group constitutes the core of the steady reform supporters.

What's happening beyond the top of the rankings

In recent sessions, the number of MPs with a perfect efficiency score (those who supported all reformist laws) has increased. During the 10th session, we observed a record high, with 22% (88 MPs) achieving this status. Up until the 8th session, there was hardly more than one such MP (with the 2nd, 4th, and 5th sessions having none). However, in the last three sessions, this figure has risen sharply. After the 8th session, 11% of MPs, and after the 9th session, 8% of MPs received the maximum possible score. During these sessions, Reform Index experts did not identify any anti-reform bills, so consistently voting for all proposed bills automatically positioned an MP as a top reformer. Additionally, during the last session, only 17 laws were included in the Reform Index, whereas typically, the number is about twice as large (see Figure 2).

The recent sessions have improved the average rating of all MPs by almost five percentage points: by the end of the 10th session, it reached 70%, whereas before the start of the 8th session, it did not exceed 65%. As a reminder, we calculate the rating as the arithmetic mean across all sessions.

We typically categorize people's deputies into three groups based on their level of support for reforms: reformers (efficiency between 100% and 89% inclusive), moderate reformers (between 88.99% and 40% inclusive), and anti-reformers (below 40%).

Overall, after the eighth session, the proportion of reformers in the Rada was 32%, moderate reformers made up 47%, and anti-reformers accounted for 22%. Following the 10th session, the number of reformers increased by 15% (21 MPs), while moderate reformers and anti-reformers decreased by 8% and 26%, respectively. The shifts in group sizes mainly occurred due to changes within the "moderate reformers" category and slight shifts in the rankings of MPs near the group boundaries.

The only exception is MP Yevhen Yakovenko from Restoration of Ukraine, who was in the reformers group during the eighth session but then immediately shifted to the anti-reformers group. His rating dropped from 97% in the eighth session to 31% in the ninth. After the tenth session, Yakovenko found himself among the moderate reformers (59%). On average, across the ten sessions, his efficiency stands at around 53%.

"The Inglorious Seven": the top anti-reformers

Seven people's deputies occupy the lowest rankings with Efficiency Scores between 0-10%. These MPs come from three factions as well as non-factional ones. At the very bottom is Mykhailo Sokolov ("Batkivshchyna"), who began his work only during the last session, did not vote for any bill, and thus scored 0% efficiency. The other six MPs in this group have had low ratings since the beginning of the 9th convocation: Stepan Ivakhiv and Ihor Palytsia ("For Future"), Vadym Stolar ("Restoration of Ukraine"), Anzhelika Labunska ("Batkivshchyna"), and independents Oleksandr Dubinskyi (currently in custody on suspicion of treason) and Fedir Khrystenko. 

Former members of the OPFL faction, who were consistently anti-reformers for many sessions, have either been stripped of their mandates (Kozak, Liovochkina, Solod, Rabinovych, and Kuzmin) or are now actively supporting the mono-majority and voting in line with them (Liovochkin, Ioffe, Zahorodnii, and others). Some achieve previously unseen results, scoring 80% or more in the Efficiency Score.

Distribution within factions

Based on the results of ten sessions, the reformers' group consists of 96 MPs, making up 40% of the total composition of the Verkhovna Rada. Among them are exclusively current and former members of the Servant of the People faction, including the non-factional MP Oleksandr Korniyenko, who is the First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada and thus independent by position.

No other faction, not even the stable supporters of the mono-majority (such as Dovira), has a representative with a rating above 87%. Additionally, there are no anti-reformers (MPs with less than 40% support for reforms) within the mono-majority, highlighting its discipline.

The strongest supporters of reforms outside the mono-majority are Bohdan Torokhtii from For Future (87%), Oleh Voronko from Restoration of Ukraine (86%), and Volodymyr Areshonkov from Dovira (85%). 

Dovira, Holos, and European Solidarity have the fewest anti-reformers and the highest average scores after Servant of the People, exceeding half of the maximum efficiency.

Representatives of pro-Russian parties have consistently shifted into the category of moderate reformers over the last three sessions. Notably, Hnatenko and Lukashev, who were previously consistent anti-reformers, achieved a perfect score in the tenth session. Overall, 9 MPs from PFLP and 6 MPs from Restoration of Ukraine have moved into the moderate reformers group. 

On the other hand, Batkivshchyna MPs consistently oppose the mono-majority. As a result, nearly four-fifths of the entire faction are classified as anti-reformers. Consequently, this faction has the lowest average rating at 27%. 

Faction uniformity in reform support 

We previously assessed the "cohesiveness" of factions in the 8th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada using the MP Efficiency Score and calculated the Rice Index, which measures factional discipline in the U.S. Congress. Now, we will examine another aspect—how closely aligned the level of support for reformist bills is among members of the same faction.

To do this, we will use the standard deviation measure to help evaluate the dispersion of individual MPs' ratings relative to their faction's average rating. Less dispersion indicates that faction members have more closely aligned ratings of support for reforms. 

It is important to note that this method has certain limitations. For instance, two MPs from the same faction might both have a rating of 50% but vote for entirely different laws. In such cases, their ratings would appear "cohesive" according to our measure, even though their voting patterns do not actually align.

The PFLP representatives demonstrate the highest level of similarity: all its members are ranked between 50th and 82nd place out of 92 total positions. Previously, they were all anti-reformists, but now they have consistently begun to climb the rankings.

The European Solidarity opposition party also stands out for its cohesion in voting. Despite a lower average rating (52%), this party's members rarely deviate from the faction's general line. 

The ratings of the Servant of the People and Batkivshchyna factions are almost identical, yet they are at opposite ends of the reform spectrum. The former uniformly supports reforms, while the latter does not.

Thus, the mono-majority and consistent opposition factions exhibit a high degree of similarity in the ratings of their members. In contrast, members of the Restoration of Ukraine and For Future factions often have varying ratings, which may indicate lower party discipline. 

Which sectors are seeing the most reforms

Experts from the Reform Index evaluate regulatory acts across six main areas: 1) governance, 2) public finance, 3) monetary policy, 4) business environment, 5) energy independence, and 6) human capital.

This ranking methodology allows us to analyze how different factions support various areas of reform. 

The "Servants" unsurprisingly demonstrate the highest level of support for reforms across all categories. They show the highest support in "Monetary Policy" (90%), "Governance" (85%), "Public Finance" (84%), and "Human Capital" (84%).

The Dovira faction also significantly supports reforms, particularly in "Human Capital" (70%), "Business Environment," and "Governance" (both 66%), indicating their interest in improving social standards and supporting entrepreneurial activity. 

Holos shows balanced support for reforms, with the highest ratings in "Human Capital" (65%), "Governance" (62%), and "Public Finance" (60%). The lowest support is seen in the "Business Environment" category (50%), indicating a less active stance on business reforms and a general tendency to support social and administrative initiatives.

The lowest support for reforms is demonstrated by the European Solidarity, PFLP, and Batkivshchyna factions. However, European Solidarity is notably active in supporting reforms in the "Human Capital" category. 

All opposition factions tend to focus more on social issues and show less support for governance, public finance reforms, and other areas predominantly backed by the mono-majority.

Who supports reforms more effectively — women or men?

By the end of the tenth session, women made up 21% of the Verkhovna Rada (85 female deputies out of 401). This is below the global average of 27%.

In the efficiency score rankings, women occupy positions ranging from 1st to 86th. Leading among them is Nataliia Loktionova from Servant of the People, while Anzhelika Labunska from Batkivshchyna is at the bottom. Labunska's last physical presence and vote in the Verkhovna Rada were recorded in October 2022. 

As seen in Figure 10, men have higher proportions of both reformers and anti-reformers. Among women, 79% are moderate reformers.

It is worth noting that only representatives from Servant of the People are classified as reformers, with women making up 22% of this faction. Of the Servant of the People members, 24% of women and 43% of the men are reformers, which exceeds the overall parliamentary averages.

The average efficiency score is the same for both genders, at 68%, indicating that MPs' impact on the country's "rules of the game" is not influenced by gender. The difference lies in strategy: men tend to have more polarized positions, while women vote more moderately and hold less radical stances. 

Conclusion

The vast majority of MPs are "moderate" reformers, meaning they support not all reforms and/or support anti-reform bills. All "reformers" (those with an efficiency score of 89% or higher) are either current or former members of the Servant of the People faction. Since 2022, former OPFL MPs have rapidly increased their ratings by voting alongside the "Servants." However, due to their previous performance, PFLP still has a low overall efficiency score, ranking second from the bottom after Batkivshchyna.