Chairman of Ways and Means

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 incumbent is Dame Eleanor Laing, MP for Epping Forest, who was first elected to the office on 8 January 2020.[1]

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
Incumbent Dame Eleanor Laing since 8 January 2020
Style	Madam/Mr. Deputy Speaker (whilst presiding)
Appointer	Elected by the House of Commons
Inaugural holder	Sir Alexander Grant, Bt.
Formation	1826
Deputy	Dame Rosie Winterton Nigel Evans

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.[2] The Chairman also takes the Chair of the Committee of the Whole House. The Chairman's title is derived from his 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.

Since 1902 the House has also appointed a First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, and since 1971 a Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means. 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).

Once appointed, 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. 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. Because the four 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.

The traditional dress for male Deputy Speakers when presiding is morning dress (a black frock-coat, or a morning coat, with black waistcoat and grey and black striped trousers).[3]

List of Chairmen of Ways and Means since 1826

Bold type indicates a Chairman who was later elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons.

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	Became Speaker of the House
2020	Incumbent	Dame Eleanor Laing		Conservative	Epping Forest	Incumbent

List of First Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means

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
1970	1973	Betty Harvie Anderson		Conservative	East Renfrewshire	Baroness Skrimshire of Quarter (1979) for Life
1973	1974	Lance Mallalieu		Labour	Brigg	Knighthood ()
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	Godman Irvine		Conservative	Rye	Knighthood ()
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	None
2010	2013	Nigel Evans		Conservative	Ribble Valley	Still a Member of the House (Second Deputy Chairman)
2013	2019	Dame Eleanor Laing		Conservative	Epping Forest	Still a Member of the House (Chairman)
2020	Incumbent	Dame Rosie Winterton		Labour	Doncaster Central	Incumbent

List of Second Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means

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	Richard 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	Still a Member of the House (First Deputy Chairman)
2020	Incumbent	Nigel Evans		Conservative	Ribble Valley	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. "Deputy Speakers elected". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
2. "Chairman of Ways and Means - Glossary page". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
3. "Commons Deputy Speakers". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 November 2019.