Load in the UK house of Lords data

gistfile1.r

library(proxy) 	# need custom distance function capability

# -------------------------------- Load data ------------------------------

# Load in vote history
# strip out vote description, date, etc, and transpose so each row is an MP
votetable = read.csv("votematrix-lords.csv", header=T, sep=",")
votes = votetable[, 5:1047]
votes = t(votes)


# Load Lord descriptions, and order by MPID, which is the column ordering in votes
lords = read.csv("lords.csv", header=T, sep=",")
lords = lords[order(lords[,"mpid"]),]


# Turn "aye" (encoded as 2) into +1, and "nay" (encoded as 4) into -1, all else zero
ayes <- votes == 2
nays <- votes == 4
votes <- array(0, dim(votes))
votes[ayes] <- 1
votes[nays] <- -1