One of the direct consequences of new Labour Leader, Keir Starmer, bringing so many new faces into his party’s frontbench team, is that many of those MPs are being snatched from select committees which had just been reformed after the General Election, creating a raft of committee vacancies that will now need to be filled.
The Home Affairs Committee will see the departure of Conor McGinn MP (joining the Home Office team) Kate Hollem MP (Local Government team) and Stephen Doughty MP (International Development). The Foreign Affairs Committee waves goodbye to both Ian Murray MP (Scotland) and Chris Elmore MP (Scotland).
The Committee on the Future Relationship with the EU says adieu to Matthew Pennycook MP (Business Energy and Industrial Strategy), Wes Streeting MP (Treasury), Seema Malhotra MP (Work and Pensions) and Stephen Kinnock MP (Foreign Office); whilst The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy loses not only its Chair, Rachel Reeves MP (Cabinet Office), but also Peter Kyle MP (Justice), Pat McFadden MP (Treasury) and Anna McMorrin MP (International development) – every Labour Member from the BEIS Committee.
There have been 100 appointments to the Labour Front Bench, (including the leader, deputy leader and three Peers), potentially leading to 58 Select Committee vacancies overall; with up to three new committee chairs possibly now needed: BEIS (formerly Rachel Reeves MP, now Cabinet Office), The Committee on Standards (Kate Green MP, now Work and Pensions) and Statutory Instruments (formerly Jessica Morden MP, now Senior Whip, although she may continue in this position).
A full list of the Labour Frontbench and the committees upon which they previously sat can be found here.
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