Next Wednesday, MPs will choose who chairs their influential select committees. These are important, high profile positions as the Committees are there to carefully scrutinise the Government’s work. The more effectively they do their work, the better it is for our democracy. An effective chair will be able to work well with all their committee members from all parties and will be able to show capacity for tenacity and forensic attention to detail. Sadly, though, it looks as though the committees will not reflect diversity either in the Commons or society as a whole. You can find the whole list of people nominated here.
There are a few reasons to feel pretty gloomy at the selection on offer. The lack of any Liberal Democrat in the running anywhere is a predictable reflection of our decline in status. The calibre of some of the nominees and the fact that fewer than half of the Committees have had a woman even nominated for Chair shows that the Commons has not yet caught up with the modern world.
Although the percentage of female MPs has increased considerably, from 22% in the last Parliament to 29% in this one, it’s sad to see that over half the 27 Committees have all male shortlists. Despite Nicola Sturgeon’s welcome commitment to gender balance in her Scottish Government, the SNP have nominated two men, Angus MacNeil and Pete Wishart, as the sole contenders for the Energy and Climate Change and Scottish Affairs Committees. These also happen to be two of the most divisive and excitable MPs the SNP have. MacNeil is, to be honest, a bit of a lightweight who doesn’t seem to have much of an interest in the subject of climate change. The Tories will use any excuse to step back from anything useful on climate change and aren’t necessarily bothered about the unfair way in which the energy markets work. I’m not sure MacNeil has the ability to challenge them in a constructive way. Wishart will be an even more divisive chair of the Committee than his Labour predecessor, Ian Davidson. It would have been poetic justice if the SNP had put Eilidh Whiteford in that position. She was on the receiving end of some highly inappropriate comments from Davidson in the last Parliament which led to her withdrawal from the Committee. Appointing someone of her calibre would have shown that the SNP were serious about being a stronger voice for Scotland.
Culture, media and sport is an area where women are both under-represented and mis-represented. Having a woman who gets all of this would have been a good thing. Instead, we have an all male shortlist.
There is no woman nominated for major committees like Defence, Local Government, Environment and rural affairs, Environmental Audit, Foreign Affairs and Justice,
One no-brainer facing MPs is the choice of Chair for the Health Select Committee. Do they choose the MP for Bosworth, David Tredinnick, who believes in Astrology, or do they choose an actual GP, Sarah Wollaston, who knows what she’s talking about? Let’s hope that they do the obvious thing.
The Backbench Business Committee race looks interesting too, with Sarah Champion, who featured in the series “Inside the Commons” earlier this year up against previous committee member Ian Mearns and Barry Sheerman. I liked Sarah, who talked a lot of sense about the appalling behaviour in the chamber and I think she’d be pretty effective in standing up for the rights of backbenchers.
It seems wrong that the Government is likely to be held to account by a group of people who don’t even reflect the appalling diversity of the Commons, let alone society itself.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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11 Comments
What are the barriers here? The chair positions of each committee are divvied up to the biggest parties, but then – I believe – any MP from the selected party can put themselves up for nomination (provided they have enough supporters). There are enough women MPs to be candidates, so what is stopping that from happening? Please don’t read that as a rhetorical question, it isn’t.
I’m curious to know how many of our excellent female MPs chaired these Committees in the last Parliament? Not sure if these are only for backbenchers and maybe all the female MPs were Ministers??
The choice of David Tredinnick as Health Select Committee Chair is more concerning for his advocacy of Homeopathy than Astrology I would have thought. People can believe what they like in a free country but the thought of a Health chair advocating a practice of little medical value beyond placebo is more challenging.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/12/queens-birthday-honours-list-knights-outnumber-dames-five-to-one
Its a big problem across the whole of society.
This line from Caron made me laugh: “MacNeil is, to be honest, a bit of a lightweight who doesn’t seem to have much of an interest in the subject of climate change.”. I love a good honest but polite takedown!
I’m not a radical in this department, as regulars will know, but I think I have relaxed a bit on it. I could fill the “great offices of state” with pretty much just women from the Labour Party alone and on merit too, so it does say something about the benefits of tackling sexism.
In general tackling inequality needs to be about how it is bad for all of us. Pointing out how we could be missing out on great talent will bother us.
Helen Tedcastle 13th Jun ’15 – 2:52pm
“…The choice of David Tredinnick as Health Select Committee Chair is more concerning for his advocacy of Homeopathy …”
You are right to point this out, Helen. Unlike you and me, the heir to the throne will be delighted.
It is a sobering thought that before too long we might have a Head of State who shares Mr Tredinnick’s curious beliefs and his rejection of scientific and medical facts.
Can you remind me which century we are living in now? Will they be burning witches again next year?
In fairness, I think it is more likely that hell will freeze over by next Friday than David Tredinnick will be elected chair of the Health Select Committee.
I echo Stuarts question – what barriers were placed in front of women MPs to prevent them tanding as Chair of their committee>
It’s disappointing.
There is a committee, previously chaired by Alan Beith, where the members are all chairs of other committees and the only witness is the Prime Minister. It needs a little publicity. It makes a change from PMQ.
Paul Walter
I’m sure you’re right about that. But will you promise to eat your hat or streak down Whitehall if you’re wrong…?