Chairman of Ways and Means

This article is about the position in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. For the position in the United States House of Representatives, see United States House Committee on Ways and Means.

Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
Logo used to represent the House of Commons
Incumbent Nus Ghani since 23 July 2024
Style	Madam/Mr. Deputy Speaker (whilst presiding)
Appointer	Elected by the House of Commons
Inaugural holder	Sir Alexander Grant
Formation	1826
Deputy	Judith Cummins (First Deputy Chairman) Caroline Nokes (Second Deputy Chairman)

In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of Ways and Means is a senior member of the House of Commons who acts as one of the Speaker's three deputies. The current holder is Nusrat Ghani, following her election to the position on 23 July 2024. Ghani is the first ethnic minority MP to sit in the Speaker's chair.

History and functions

The Chairman of Ways and Means is the principal Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, presiding over the House in the Speaker's absence. ^[1] The chairman also takes the chair of the Committee of the Whole House. The chairman's title is derived from their role in the former Committee of Ways and Means, which was abolished in 1967.

The chairman's connection with the financial responsibilities of this committee gave rise to the tradition that the chairman presides over the annual budget debate, although there is no reason why the Speaker cannot do so if he or she chooses. The chairman is always a senior Member of the House, often with experience of chairing standing committees, and sometimes also of being a government minister.

The deputy chairmen also deputise for the Speaker in the chair or by chairing committees of the Whole House, although the chairman has certain additional and distinct responsibilities (for instance, in relation to private bills and overseeing the Panel of Committee Chairs).

The chairman is also chair of the Court of Referees, established in 1865. ^[2]

Once elected, both the Chairman of Ways and Means and the deputy chairmen follow the same tradition of neither speaking nor voting on any matter before the House (unless a casting vote is required). Unlike the Speaker, though, they remain members of their political party and campaign in general elections as party politicians.

Election

Before 2010, the chairman was appointed by the Leader of the House or another government minister, ^[3] with the first and second deputy chairmen being appointed by the House of Commons from 1902 and 1971 respectively, but in November 2009, a report was published by the Procedure Committee which made the chairman, first deputy and second deputy chairmen all elected ^[4] which was approved in January 2010, with the election process further detailed in a report published by the Procedure Committee in February 2010 ^[5] and approved the following month. ^[6]

This election takes place after the election of the Speaker, and uses the Single Transferable Vote voting system, with the first candidate reaching the quota being elected as the chairman, the second candidate reaching the quota being elected as first deputy chairman and the third candidate reaching the quota being elected as second deputy chairman, but there are some rules on who can be elected.

The chairman and second deputy chairman are elected from the opposite side of the House to the (former) party of the Speaker, while the first deputy chairman comes from the same side, which can lead to some situations where only the chairman and second deputy chairman are actually elected and the first deputy chairman is effectively appointed to the role if there was only one candidate in the election from the (former) party of the Speaker. This is because, in this situation, the candidate from the (former) party of the Speaker would automatically be elected to be the first deputy chairman without appearing on the ballot paper.

There is usually a gap between the election of the Speaker and the election of the chairman and deputy chairmen of anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, which has led to the House of Commons nominating members to temporarily serve in these roles until elections could be held. A report from the Procedure Committee published in October 2011 recommended that a new standing order be created to give the Speaker the power to appoint a temporary chairman and temporary deputy chairmen to serve between the start of a Parliament and the election of these positions, but as of the present day, this standing order has not been created, which has led to the House agreeing to appoint temporary chairman and deputy chairmen in various different ways. ^[7]

For example, after the 2010 general election, the House agreed on 25 May that the Speaker could nominate people to serve as temporary chairman and deputy chairmen, while after the 2015 general election, the process was broadly the same, with the only difference being that the House agreed to the appointment of temporary chairman and deputy chairmen on 26 March, which is before the general election had taken place. After the 2017 and 2019 general elections, the Leader of the House put forward a motion on the day of the Queen's Speech which provided for the appointment of temporary chairman and deputy chairmen. The major difference between these is that, after the 2017 election, the motion put forward then was for the Speaker to nominate temporary chairman and deputy chairmen (like what had happened in 2010 and 2015), but after the 2019 election, the motion put forward was to itself appoint the temporary chairman and deputy chairmen. ^[8]

The Speaker (or the Leader of the House in 2019) didn't necessarily have to appoint people to fill all the roles. In fact, after every election where the chairmen and deputy chairmen were elected except 2019, the Speaker only appointed two people as Deputy Speakers, not as chairmen and deputy chairmen. Only in 2019 were there people appointed to all three roles and as chairmen and deputy chairmen. ^[8]

Because the Speaker, chairman and deputy chairmen do not vote (except to break a tie), this effectively pairs the occupants of the chair (their presumed support for their side cancelling each other out), which means no party loses a voting advantage on account of having one of the four drawn from its ranks.

List of Chairmen of Ways and Means since 1826

Bold type and light grey colour indicates a chairman who was later elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons.

Light blue colour indicates where a deputy chairman was promoted.

Light green colour indicates where a deputy chairman reached.

From	Until	Name	Party		Constituency	Retirement honour
1826	1831	Sir Alexander Grant, Bt		Conservative	Aldborough, Westbury	None
1831	1841	Ralph Bernal		Whig	Rochester	None
1841	1847	Thomas Greene		Conservative	Lancaster	None
1847	1852	Ralph Bernal		Whig	Rochester	None
1852	1853	John Wilson-Patten		Conservative	North Lancashire	Baron Winmarleigh (1874)
1853	1855	Hon. Edward Pleydell-Bouverie		Whig	Kilmarnock Burghs	None
1855	1859	Henry FitzRoy		Conservative	Lewes	None
1859	1864	William Nathaniel Massey		Liberal	Salford	None
1865	1872	John George Dodson		Liberal	East Sussex	Baron Monk Bretton (1884)
1872	1874	John Bonham Carter		Liberal	Winchester	None
1874	1880	Henry Cecil Raikes		Conservative	Chester	None
1880	1883	Lyon Playfair		Liberal	Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities	Baron Playfair (1892)
1883	1885	Sir Arthur Otway, Bt		Liberal	Rochester	None
1886	1893	Leonard Courtney		Liberal	Bodmin	Baron Courtney of Penwith (1906)
1893	1895	John William Mellor		Liberal	Sowerby	None
1895	1905	James Lowther		Conservative	Penrith	Viscount Ullswater (1921)
1905	1906	Sir John Lawson, Bt		Conservative	Thirsk and Malton	Baronetcy (1905)
1906	1911	Alfred Emmott		Liberal	Oldham	Baron Emmott (1911)
1911	1921	John Henry Whitley		Liberal	Halifax	None
1921	1924	James Hope		Conservative	Sheffield Central	Baron Rankeillour (1932)
Feb 1924	Oct 1924	Robert Young		Labour	Newton	Knighthood (1931)
1924	1929	James Hope		Conservative	Sheffield Central	Baron Rankeillour (1932)
1929	1931	Robert Young		Labour	Newton	Knighthood (1931)
1931	1943	Dennis Herbert		Conservative	Watford	Baron Hemingford (1943)
Jan 1943	Mar 1943	Douglas Clifton Brown		Conservative	Hexham	Viscount Ruffside (1951)
1943	1951	James Milner		Labour	Leeds South East	Baron Milner of Leeds (1951)
1951	1959	Sir Charles MacAndrew		Unionist	Bute and Northern Ayrshire	Baron MacAndrew (1959)
1959	1962	Gordon Touche		Conservative	Dorking	Baronetcy (1962)
1962	1964	Sir William Anstruther-Gray		Unionist	Berwick and East Lothian	Baron Kilmany (1966) for Life
1964	1965	Horace King		Labour	Southampton Itchen	Baron Maybray-King (1971) for Life
1965	1966	Sir Samuel Storey, Bt		Conservative	Stretford	Baron Buckton (1966) for Life
1966	1968	Sir Eric Fletcher		Labour	Islington East	Baron Fletcher (1970) for Life
1968	1970	Sydney Irving		Labour	Dartford	Baron Irving of Dartford (1979) for Life
1970	1974	Sir Robert Grant-Ferris		Conservative	Nantwich	Baron Harvington (1974) for Life
1974	1976	George Thomas		Labour	Cardiff West	Viscount Tonypandy (1983)
1976	1979	Oscar Murton		Conservative	Poole	Baron Murton of Lindisfarne (1979) for Life
1979	1983	Bernard Weatherill		Conservative	Croydon North East	Baron Weatherill (1992) for Life
1983	1992	Harold Walker		Labour	Doncaster Central	Baron Walker of Doncaster (1997) for Life
1992	1997	Michael Morris		Conservative	Northampton South	Baron Naseby (1997) for Life
1997	2010	Sir Alan Haselhurst		Conservative	Saffron Walden	Baron Haselhurst (2018) for Life
2010	2019	Sir Lindsay Hoyle		Labour	Chorley	Elected as Speaker
2020	2024	Dame Eleanor Laing		Conservative	Epping Forest	Baroness Laing of Elderslie (2024) for Life
2024	Incumbent	Nus Ghani		Conservative	Sussex Weald	Incumbent

List of Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means (1902–1971)

From	Until	Name	Party		Constituency	Retirement honour
1902	1905	Arthur Frederick Jeffreys		Conservative	Basingstoke	None
1905	1906	Laurence Hardy		Conservative	Ashford	None
1906	1910	James Caldwell		Liberal	Mid Lanarkshire	None
1910	1911	John Henry Whitley		Liberal	Halifax	None
1911	1918	Sir Donald Maclean		Liberal	Peebles and Selkirk	Knighthood (1917)
1919	1923	Sir Edwin Cornwall, Bt		Liberal	Bethnal Green North-East	Baronetcy (1918)
Feb 1924	Oct 1924	Cyril Entwistle		Liberal	Kingston upon Hull South West	None
Dec 1924	1928	Edward FitzRoy		Conservative	Daventry	None
1928	1929	Dennis Herbert		Conservative	Watford	Baron Hemingford (1943)
1929	1931	Herbert Dunnico		Labour	Consett	Knighthood (1938)
1931	1938	Robert Bourne		Conservative	Oxford	None
1938	1943	Douglas Clifton Brown		Conservative	Hexham	Viscount Ruffside (1951)
Jan 1943	Mar 1943	James Milner		Labour	Leeds South East	Baron Milner of Leeds (1951)
1943	1945	Charles Williams		Conservative	Torquay	None
1945	1948	Hubert Beaumont		Labour	Batley and Morley	None
1948	1950	Frank Bowles		Labour	Nuneaton	Baron Bowles (1964) for Life
1950	1951	Sir Charles MacAndrew		Unionist	Bute and Northern Ayrshire	Baron MacAndrew (1959)
1951	1956	Rhys Hopkin Morris		Liberal	Carmarthen	Knighthood (1956)
1956	1959	Gordon Touche		Conservative	Dorking	Baronetcy (1962)
1959	1962	Sir William Anstruther-Gray		Unionist	Berwick and East Lothian	Baron Kilmany (1966) for Life
1962	1964	Sir Robert Grimston, Bt		Conservative	Westbury	Baron Grimston of Westbury (1964)
1964	1965	Sir Samuel Storey, Bt		Conservative	Stretford	Baron Buckton (1966) for Life
1965	1966	Roderic Bowen		Liberal	Ceredigion	None
1966	1968	Sydney Irving		Labour	Dartford	Baron Irving of Dartford (1979) for Life
1968	1970	Harry Gourlay		Labour	Kirkcaldy	None

List of First Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means (since 1971)

From	Until	Name	Party		Constituency	Retirement honour
1970	1973	Betty Harvie Anderson		Conservative	East Renfrewshire	Baroness Skrimshire of Quarter (1979) for Life
1973	1974	Lance Mallalieu		Labour	Brigg	Knighthood (1979) [9]
1974	1976	Oscar Murton		Conservative	Poole	Baron Murton of Lindisfarne (1979) for Life
1976	1979	Sir Myer Galpern		Labour	Glasgow Shettleston	Baron Galpern (1979) for Life
1979	1982	Sir Bryant Godman Irvine		Conservative	Rye	Knighthood (1986) [10]
1982	1987	Ernest Armstrong		Labour	North West Durham	None
1987	1992	Sir Paul Dean		Conservative	Woodspring	Baron Dean of Harptree (1993) for Life
1992	1997	Geoffrey Lofthouse		Labour	Pontefract and Castleford	Baron Lofthouse of Pontefract (1997) for Life
1997	2000	Michael Martin		Labour	Glasgow Springburn	Baron Martin of Springburn (2009) for Life
2000	2010	Sylvia Heal		Labour	Halesowen and Rowley Regis	Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2022) [11] )
2010	2013	Nigel Evans		Conservative	Ribble Valley	None
2013	2019	Dame Eleanor Laing		Conservative	Epping Forest	Baroness Laing of Elderslie (2024) for Life
2020	2024	Dame Rosie Winterton		Labour	Doncaster Central	Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (2024) for Life
2024	Incumbent	Judith Cummins		Labour	Bradford South	Incumbent

List of Second Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means since 1971

From	Until	Name	Party		Constituency	Retirement honour
1971	1973	Lance Mallalieu		Labour	Brigg	None
1973	1974	Oscar Murton		Conservative	Poole	Baron Murton of Lindisfarne (1979) for Life
1974	1976	Sir Myer Galpern		Labour	Glasgow Shettleston	Baron Galpern (1979) for Life
1976	1979	Sir Bryant Godman Irvine		Conservative	Rye	None
1979	1981	Dick Crawshaw		Labour	Liverpool Toxteth	Baron Crawshaw of Aintree (1985) for Life
1981	1982	Ernest Armstrong		Labour	North West Durham	None
1982	1987	Sir Paul Dean		Conservative	Woodspring	Baron Dean of Harptree (1993) for Life
1987	1992	Betty Boothroyd		Labour	West Bromwich West	Baroness Boothroyd (2001) for Life
1992	1997	Dame Janet Fookes		Conservative	Plymouth Drake	Baroness Fookes (1997) for Life
1997	2010	Sir Michael Lord		Conservative	Central Suffolk and North Ipswich	Baron Framlingham (2011) for Life
2010	2015	Dame Dawn Primarolo		Labour	Bristol South	Baroness Primarolo (2015) for Life
2015	2017	Natascha Engel		Labour	North East Derbyshire	None
2017	2019	Dame Rosie Winterton		Labour	Doncaster Central	Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (2024) for Life
2020	2024	Nigel Evans		Conservative	Ribble Valley	None
2024	Incumbent	Caroline Nokes		Conservative	Romsey and Southampton North	Incumbent

See also

• Committee of Ways and Means
• Speaker of the House of Commons

External links

• Records of the Office of the Chairman of Ways and Means are held at the Parliamentary Archives
• Ways and Means in the parliamentary glossary
• Chairman of Ways and Means in the BBC parliamentary dictionary

References

Citations

1. "Chairman of Ways and Means - Glossary page". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
2. "The Court of Referees". Erskine May . Retrieved 18 October 2021.
3. Section 2, subsection 5: "The Chairman of Ways and Means himself was formerly appointed by Leader of the House or a Minister of the Crown when the House first resolved itself into a Committee of Supply following the meeting of each new Parliament."
4. "Election of the Deputy Speakers: Principles" (PDF). 2 November 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
5. "Election of the Speaker and of the Deputy Speakers" (PDF). 3 February 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
6. Kelly, Richard (9 January 2020). "The election of Deputy Speakers" . Retrieved 13 January 2024.
7. "2010 elections for positions in the House" (PDF). 31 October 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
8. Kelly, Richard (9 January 2020). "The election of Deputy Speakers" (PDF). Retrieved 13 January 2024.
9. "No. 47868". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1979. p. 7600.
10. UK list: "No. 50361". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1985. pp. 1–28.
11. "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N8.