Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission (SCEC),[1] or simply the Speaker's Committee, is a body created under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 to scrutinise the Electoral Commission.[2] Through the Committee's members, the Commission is able to field questions in the House of Commons in a manner similar to the way ministers do.
Composition
The Committee comprises nine MPs: the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) (who also serves as its chair), the Lord President of the Council,[3] the Chair of the select committee responsible for electoral issues,[4] the minister responsible for local government, and five others nominated by the Speaker who are not Ministers of the Crown.[5] As of 28 May 2020, the members of the Committee are as follows:
Member | Party | Role |
---|---|---|
Lindsay Hoyle | Speaker (Labour) | Speaker of the House of Commons (ex officio member) |
Michael Gove | Conservative | Minister for the Cabinet Office (ex officio member) |
Craig Mackinlay | Conservative | Regular Member |
Karl McCartney | Conservative | Regular Member |
Cat Smith | Labour | Regular Member |
Christian Matheson | Labour | Regular Member |
William Wragg | Conservative | Chair of PACAC |
Gloria De Piero | Labour | Regular Member |
Owen Thompson | Scottish National Party | Regular Member |
See also
- Parliamentary Committees of the United Kingdom
References
- "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
- Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act (c. 41), Schedule 1 ss 14–19
- As ministerial responsibility for the Electoral Commission was transferred to the Deputy Prime Minister, this position was transferred by statutory instrument as was done when responsibility shifted from the Home Secretary to the Lord Chancellor. See SI 2010/1837, s 4 and SI 2002/2626, s 11.
- Section 2(2)(a) of the Political Parties, Elections, and Referendums Act specifically calls for this to be the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, but 2(6)(b) states that if responsibility for electoral issues transfers to another committee, that committees chair should serve instead. In the 2005, Alan Beith served on the Committee as chair of the Justice Select Committee. As ministerial responsibility for the Electoral Commission has transferred to the Deputy Prime Minister, the chair of the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee, which was set up to scrutinse the Deputy Prime Minister's functions, now serves.
- Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2010 (c. 41) s 2
- UK Parliament - Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/144/speakers-committee-on-the-electoral-commission/membership/ - Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission Check
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