Nominations open for Treasury Committee Chair

• Treasury Committee
• Nomination form for the select committee chairs (docx, 63KB)
• Election of committee chairs briefing note (docx, 63KB)
• How select committees elect Chairs

The Speaker announced the timetable for the elections on July 30. The period of nominations will run until 4pm on Monday 9 September, with the ballot scheduled for Wednesday 11 September.

The new Chair will be elected from the Labour party under the allocation of committee chairs to political parties which was agreed by the House on 30 July 2024.  

• Allocation of select committee chairs  

Since 2010, most committee chairs have been elected by the whole House, by a system of alternative vote and by secret ballot. To be valid, nominations must contain a signed statement made by the candidate declaring their willingness to stand.

It must be accompanied by the signatures of 15 MPs elected to the Commons as members of the same political party as the candidate (or 10 per cent of the MPs elected to the House as members of that party, whichever is the lower). More than 15 signatures can be collected but only the first 15 valid signatures are printed. Members may only nominate one candidate per select committee.

Nominations may be accompanied by the signatures of up to five MPs elected to the House as members of any party other than to which the chair is allocated or of no party. Similarly, only five such signatures are printed.

Candidates must declare any relevant interests with their nomination. Valid nominations received each day are published with the next day's Order Paper and will be listed below.

Nominations

Candidate: Dame Meg Hillier

Supporters (own party): Gareth Snell, Bridget Phillipson, Dame Siobhain McDonagh, James Asser, Liam Byrne, Mr Clive Betts, Johanna Baxter, Steve Race, Dame Diana Johnson, Wes Streeting, Olivia Blake, Florence Eshalomi, Mr James Frith, Chris Curtis, Sarah Owen

Supporters (other parties or no party): Dame Harriett Baldwin, Mr Alistair Carmichael, Ben Lake, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Colum Eastwood

Relevant interests declared: I own a residential property in London on which I receive rental income. I am a Trustee of the PCPF Pension scheme, which oversees the pension fund for members and former members of the UK House of Commons. This is an unpaid role.

Supporting statement:

The Treasury select committee is a critical forum for examining the work of the Treasury and the policies of the new Labour Government.

I chaired the Queen of Select Committees, the Public Accounts Committee, for nine years and served on it for more than a decade. I understand the challenge of the public finances and the power of scrutiny.

As an experienced select committee Chair I have a reputation for a tough but fair approach to scrutiny. I have a demonstrable track record of building a team and building trust to enable the committee deeper access into the recesses of Whitehall. I ensured that the Public Accounts Committee never leaked information during my time as chair enabling the wider committee to have access to more information.

How – my style of chairing is collaborative and if I am elected as Chair I commit to:

• Regular communication with MPs across the House about upcoming sessions
• Weekly readouts of public hearings in a “crop and drop” format for your communications with constituents
• Proactively engaging with MPs on areas of interest to you so that you can feed in your knowledge and expertise – Parliament is a huge resource
• Championing constituents as consumers in the committee’s work on personal finance issues
• Work closely with other committee Chairs on areas of mutual interest – for example DWP committee on pension policy; Public Accounts on HMRC; Women and Inequalities on impact of Budget decisions on specific groups
• Hold some quick inquiries on topical subjects as well as longer inquiries where appropriate
• Build the new committee into a respected, trusted, professional team which Parliament can be proud of
• Be accessible to all MPs and arrange briefings with experts open to all Members 

Remit  – there are four key areas of the committee’s work:

• Scrutinising economic policy and public spending plans with Ministers, Treasury officials and outside expert witnesses 
• Standing up for consumers, in particular scrutinising the interaction of Budget and other policy interventions on the real lives of our constituents
• Regular scrutiny of key players including Ministers, the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority and confirmatory hearings for some key appointments
• Scrutiny of all new financial regulations through the committee’s standing sub-committee 

What - the subjects of inquiries and witness sessions will be decided by the full committee and with input from all Members. Some immediate issues include: 

Policy:

• policy changes and events which will need scrutiny, including the Budget
• regular sessions with ministers where every MP can submit suggested areas of questioning 

Consumer issues including:

• long term mortgage policy (interest only mortgages; mortgage lending rules and rent to buy, for example) which have a huge impact on constituents and deserve scrutiny
• orphan financial instruments such as Child Trust Funds, Lifetime ISAs which warrant examination
• tax policy and its practical implications for constituents 

Key players

• Challenging those running the Treasury and key financial institutions without fear or favour 

I have the experience, knowledge and track record to be Chair of the Treasury Select Committee.

Further information  

• Election of House of Commons Select Committee Chairs

Image credit: House of Commons