Eight new members join education select committee
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
The makeup of the education select committee has been finalised, with the majority of the membership sitting on the scrutiny body for the first time.
A total of eight women and three men have been elected by their political parties to take up a place on the powerful committee, which scrutinises issues relating to children and young people.
The gender balance represents a significant turnaround from the membership at the end of the last parliament when there were eight men and three women on the committee.
The only three members who served on the committee in the last parliament are the chair, Conservative MP Neil Carmichael, Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton Caroline Nokes, who herself ran for election as chair of the committee, and Labour MP for Gateshead Ian Mearns.
The remaining eight of the 11 MPs are first-time members of the committee.
Conservatives make up the majority. As well as being represented by Carmichael and Nokes, the party has a further four MPs on the committee – MP for Telford Lucy Allan, MP for Chippenham Michelle Donelan, MP for Fareham Suella Fernandes, and MP for South East Cambridgeshire Lucy Frazer.
In addition to Mearns, Labour has a further three MPs on the committee – MP for Dudley North Ian Austin, MP for Blackburn Kate Hollern, and MP for Edmonton Kate Osamor.
The committee also has representation from the Scottish National Party for the first time in the form of MP for Motherwell and Wishaw Marion Fellows, who has previously a further education teacher.
The Liberal Democrats are not represented on the committee.
The MPs were voted onto the committee following elections within each party.
The party balance of committee membership is intended to reflect the balance of seats in the House of Commons.