Pull up a chair
This week Select Committee Chairs were…selected. 27 Select Committee Chairs were sought and for the 11 Select Committees contested, secret ballots were conducted and counted using the Alternative Voting System. A total of 54 nominations were received.
Former Education Secretary, Treasury Minister and Equalities portfolio holder, Nicky Morgan MP (forever in and out of favour with No.10…no one mention the PM’s leather trousers), is the first female to chair the Treasury Select Committee – one of 11 Select Committees chairpersons contested. Jacob Rees-Mogg MP followed Nicky through to a 5th round of vote counting using the Alternative Voting System before the only female nominee was elected in the final round.
Cratus Communications’ Non Executive Director Bob Neill MP has been returned as the Chair of the Justice Select Committee uncontested. The Committee has published reports on Young Adults in the Criminal Justice System and Courts, Tribunal Fees and has held inquiries into the Implications of Brexit and Prison Reform.
The Chairs will take up their position when the remaining members have been appointed by the House. Those members have yet to be elected, owing to a Conservative scramble to get their parliamentary act together. Fast forward to October and beyond the season of political party conferences, it may be another three months before the committees bed in and substantial select committee business goes into production, in an attempt to scrutinise the activity of an already weak central government.
For a breakdown of the voting rounds and the full list of appointments, visit the parliamentary website here.
