– in the House of Commons at 8:04 pm on 28 April 2026.
Resolved,
That this House notes the Procedure Committee’s Fifth Report of Session 2024–26 (HC 535), and endorses paragraphs 109-111 and 114-115 of that Report and the following Rules for Select Committee Chair elections:
Select committee chairs are central figures in carrying out the House’s scrutiny function and are vitally important roles in our parliamentary democracy, with significant responsibilities and weight both within and outside the House. Members of Parliament and the public have the right to expect that the elections for these posts will be conducted fairly and in a way that safeguards and enhances the reputation of the House.
Members seeking to stand in elections held under
By standing for election as a candidate for a select committee chair position, all candidates agree to the following restrictions on their campaigning activities:
1. The production and distribution of any printed campaign material, other than the booklet of candidate statements produced by the House Administration, is prohibited.
2. The use of mass electronic communications, such as mass emails, calendar invitations or messages, or unsolicited addition to groups on any messaging platform, for campaigning purposes, is prohibited.
3. Respect for colleagues’ protected time for constituency activities and private life is paramount. Any campaign activity outside the working week (Monday to Friday) and reasonable business hours (8am to 8pm) is prohibited, including any campaign activity when the House is in recess.
4. Campaigning activities in the immediate vicinity of the polling place on the day of the election are prohibited.
Candidates and prospective candidates can expect the electorate to take a dim view of any breach of the provisions of these Rules and of the damage done to the reputation of the House by any such breach.—(Sir Alan Campbell.)
Judith Cummins
Deputy Speaker (First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means), Chair, Restoration and Renewal Programme Board Committee, Chair, Restoration and Renewal Programme Board Committee
The House will now suspend pending the arrival of Lords messages. I will cause the Division bells to ring five minutes before the sitting resumes.
Sitting suspended (Order, this day).
On resuming—
Emily Darlington
Labour, Milton Keynes Central
8:08,
28 April 2026
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Following my earlier point of order, I received an email from Conservative party headquarters. It contained a picture of an email that the Conservatives say that they sent to me ahead of the Leader of the Opposition’s visit to my Constituency. Although I have never seen that email, and we have seen no evidence of it in my inbox, I feel that I should give them the benefit of the doubt about it having been sent. I have suggested that the Conservative party uses parliamentary email addresses in future to ensure that emails get to the correct people at the correct time. [Official Report,
Caroline Nokes
Chair, Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art, Chair, Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art, Deputy Speaker (Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means)
I thank the hon. Lady for her point of order. She will know that that is not a matter for the Chair, but she has put that correction on the record.
http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/procedure_committee.cfm
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
The "Leader of the Opposition" is head of "Her Majesty's Official Opposition". This position is taken by the Leader of the party with the 2nd largest number of MPs in the Commons.
The Deputy speaker is in charge of proceedings of the House of Commons in the absence of the Speaker.
The deputy speaker's formal title is Chairman of Ways and Means, one of whose functions is to preside over the House of Commons when it is in a Committee of the Whole House.
The deputy speaker also presides over the Budget.
The Conservatives are a centre-right political party in the UK, founded in the 1830s. They are also known as the Tory party.
With a lower-case ‘c’, ‘conservative’ is an adjective which implies a dislike of change, and a preference for traditional values.
