Panel of Chairs

The Panel of Chairs (formerly the Chairman's Panel) are members of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom responsible for chairing public bill committees and other General Committees. They may also chair debates in Westminster Hall, the parallel debating chamber. The three Deputy Speakers, who are automatically members, are responsible for chairing Committees of the Whole House. Other members may act as temporary chairs of Committees of the Whole House.

The Panel is chaired by the Chairman of Ways and Means. The Panel is not itself generally thought of as a committee, but it does have the power to meet to consider matters relating to procedure in the general committees and report its findings to the House of Commons.

Members

The panel comprises the Chairman and two Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means, who are members ex officio, and no fewer than 10 MPs appointed by the Speaker, two of whom are appointed pursuant to section 1(3) of the Parliament Act 1911 by the Committee of Selection to be consulted by the Speaker before declaring a bill to be a money bill.

Members of the Panel of Chairs, as of February 2026:

Member Party Constituency Notes
Nusrat Ghani MP Conservative Sussex Weald Chairman of Ways and Means
Judith Cummins MP Labour Bradford South First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
Caroline Nokes MP Conservative Romsey and Southampton North Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP Labour Tooting
Clive Betts MP Labour Sheffield South East
Dawn Butler MP Labour Co-operative Brent East
Sir Christopher Chope MP Conservative Christchurch
Peter Dowd MP Labour Bootle
Clive Efford MP Labour Eltham
Gill Furniss MP Labour Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough
Sir Roger Gale MP Conservative Herne Bay and Sandwich
Carolyn Harris MP Labour Neath and Swansea East
Sir John Hayes MP Conservative South Holland and the Deepings
Sir Mark Hendrick MP Labour Co-operative Preston
Wera Hobhouse MP Liberal Democrats Bath
Dr Rupa Huq MP Labour Ealing Central and Acton
Christine Jardine MP Liberal Democrats Edinburgh West
Sir Edward Leigh MP Conservative Gainsborough
Emma Lewell-Buck MP Labour South Shields
Siobhain McDonagh MP Labour Mitcham and Morden
Esther McVey MP Conservative Tatton
David Mundell MP Conservative Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Dr Andrew Murrison MP Conservative South West Wiltshire
Caroline Nokes MP Conservative Romsey and Southampton North
Mark Pritchard MP Conservative The Wrekin
Sir Alec Shelbrooke MP Conservative Wetherby and Easingwold
Graham Stringer MP Labour Blackley and Broughton
Graham Stuart MP Conservative Beverley and Holderness
Sir Desmond Swayne MP Conservative New Forest West
Karl Turner MP Labour Kingston upon Hull East
Derek Twigg MP Labour Widnes and Halewood
Valerie Vaz MP Labour Walsall and Bloxwich
Martin Vickers MP Conservative Brigg and Immingham
Matt Western MP Labour Warwick and Leamington
Sir Jeremy Wright MP Conservative Kenilworth and Southam

References

  1. 1 2 "Role - Panel of Chairs". UK Parliament. 14 November 2024.
  2. โ†‘ Public Business Standing Order 85(4).
  3. โ†‘ "Panel of Chairs - Membership - Committees - UK Parliament". committees.parliament.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  4. โ†‘ "Memorandum, Panel of Chairs". UK Parliament. 29 January 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2025.