Panel of Chairs

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The Panel of Chairs (formerly the Chairman's Panel) are members of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom responsible for chairing public bill committees and other General Committees. They may also chair debates in Westminster Hall, the parallel debating chamber. The three Deputy Speakers, who are automatically members, are responsible for chairing Committees of the Whole House. Other members may act as temporary chairs of Committees of the Whole House. [1]

The Panel is chaired by the Chairman of Ways and Means. The Panel is not itself generally thought of as a committee, but it does have the power to meet to consider matters relating to procedure in the general committees and report its findings to the House of Commons. [2]

Members

The panel comprises the Chairman and two Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means, who are members ex officio, and no fewer than 10 MPs appointed by the Speaker, [1] two of whom are appointed pursuant to section 1(3) of the Parliament Act 1911 by the Committee of Selection to be consulted by the Speaker before declaring a bill to be a money bill.

Members of the Panel of Chairs, as of 31 January 2025: [3] [4]

MemberPartyConstituencyNotes
Nusrat Ghani MP Conservative Sussex Weald Chairman of Ways and Means
Judith Cummins MP Labour Bradford South First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
Caroline Nokes MP Conservative Romsey and Southampton North Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP Labour Tooting
Clive Betts MP Labour Sheffield South East
Dawn Butler MP Labour Co-operative Brent East
Sir Christopher Chope MP Conservative Christchurch
Peter Dowd MP Labour Bootle
Clive Efford MP Labour Eltham
Gill Furniss MP Labour Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough
Sir Roger Gale MP Conservative Herne Bay and Sandwich
Carolyn Harris MP Labour Neath and Swansea East
Sir John Hayes MP Conservative South Holland and the Deepings
Sir Mark Hendrick MP Labour Co-operative Preston
Wera Hobhouse MP Liberal Democrats Bath
Dr Rupa Huq MP Labour Ealing Central and Acton
Christine Jardine MP Liberal Democrats Edinburgh West
Sir Edward Leigh MP Conservative Gainsborough
Emma Lewell-Buck MP Labour South Shields
Siobhain McDonagh MP Labour Mitcham and Morden
Esther McVey MP Conservative Tatton
David Mundell MP Conservative Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Dr Andrew Murrison MP Conservative South West Wiltshire
Mark Pritchard MP Conservative The Wrekin
Graham Stringer MP Labour Blackley and Broughton
Graham Stuart MP Conservative Beverley and Holderness
Desmond Swayne MP Conservative New Forest West
Karl Turner MP Labour Kingston upon Hull East
Derek Twigg MP Labour Widnes and Halewood
Valerie Vaz MP Labour Walsall and Bloxwich
Martin Vickers MP Conservative Brigg and Immingham
Matt Western MP Labour Warwick and Leamington
Sir Jeremy Wright MP Conservative Kenilworth and Southam

Members of the Panel of Chairs, as of 15 October 2021: [5]

MemberPartyConstituencyNotes
Dame Eleanor Laing MP Conservative Epping Forest Chairman of Ways and Means
Dame Rosie Winterton MP Labour Doncaster Central First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
Nigel Evans MP Conservative Ribble Valley Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
Rushanara Ali MP Labour Bethnal Green and Bow
Hannah Bardell MP Scottish National Party Livingston
Clive Betts MP Labour Sheffield South East
Peter Bone MP Conservative Wellingborough
Sir Graham Brady MP Conservative Altrincham and Sale West
Karen Buck MP Labour Westminster North
Sir Christopher Chope MP Conservative Christchurch
Judith Cummins MP Labour Bradford South Previously Acting Deputy Speaker
Geraint Davies MP Labour Co-operative Swansea West
Philip Davies MP Conservative Shipley
Peter Dowd MP Labour Bootle
Dame Angela Eagle MP Labour Wallasey
Clive Efford MP Labour Eltham
Julie Elliott MP Labour Sunderland Central
Yvonne Fovargue MP Labour Makerfield
Sir Roger Gale MP Conservative North Thanet
Nusrat Ghani MP Conservative Wealden
James Gray MP Conservative North Wiltshire
Sir Mark Hendrick MP Labour Co-operative Preston
Philip Hollobone MP Conservative Kettering
Stewart Hosie MP Scottish National Party Dundee East
Sir George Howarth MP Labour Knowsley
Dr Rupa Huq Labour Ealing Central and Acton
Sir Edward Leigh MP Conservative Gainsborough
Steve McCabe MP Labour Birmingham, Selly Oak
Siobhain McDonagh MP Labour Mitcham and Morden
Esther McVey MP Conservative Tatton
Dame Maria Miller MP Conservative Basingstoke
David Mundell MP Conservative Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Sheryll Murray MP Conservative South East Cornwall
Caroline Nokes MP Conservative Romsey and Southampton North
Ian Paisley MP Democratic Unionist Party North Antrim
Mark Pritchard MP Conservative The Wrekin
Christina Rees MP Labour Co-operative Neath
Laurence Robertson MP Conservative Tewkesbury
Andrew Rosindell MP Conservative Romford
Virendra Sharma MP Labour Ealing, Southall
Gary Streeter MP Conservative South West Devon
Graham Stringer MP Labour Blackley and Broughton
Derek Twigg MP Labour Halton
Sir Charles Walker MP Conservative Broxbourne

The Panel of Chairs was nominated by the Speaker on 22 June 2017:

As of December 2015, the members were as follows:

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References

  1. 1 2 "Role - Panel of Chairs". UK Parliament. 14 November 2024.
  2. Public Business Standing Order 85(4).
  3. "Panel of Chairs - Membership - Committees - UK Parliament". committees.parliament.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  4. "Memorandum, Panel of Chairs". UK Parliament. 29 January 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  5. "Panel of Chairs - Membership - Committees - UK Parliament". committees.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2020.