Seasoned MPs Are Annoyed By The Number Of Newbies Bidding To Chair Committees

The number of newly-elected MPs vying to lead influential committees is irritating more experienced back benchers ahead of votes to appoint chairs on Wednesday.

MPs will today hold votes to decide who should chair numerous House of Commons select committees covering a range of policy areas.

Labour Government ministers and the the Tory shadow front bench are barred from standing, meaning it is a competition between back benchers. The results are set to be published as soon as Wednesday, but some announcements may spill over into Thursday.

As well as holding evidence sessions and producing reports in their policy areas, committees are one way in which Parliament can hold the Government to account by questioning ministers.

Heading into the votes on Wednesday, there is annoyance among more senior back benchers, particularly those on the Labour benches, at what they see as an abormally large number of newly-elected MPs putting themselves forward to chair committees despite being in Parliament for a matter of months.

Of the Labour MPs elected for the first time on 4 July, David Pinto-Duschinsky is vying to chair the work and pensions committee and Alice MacDonald is hoping to lead the international development committee. Similarly, Mike Tapp is going for the justice committee and Marie Tidball is bidding to chair the education committee.

“The newbies are all very sharp elbowed, we'll see if any of us get a look in at any,” a long-serving Labour MP complained to PoliticsHome.

One MP on the Labour left believed select committees could be used as a vehicle to shoehorn government loyalists to chair positions, shielding Prime Minister Keir Starmer from proper scrutiny. 

The principle of select committees is to reflect the broad position