Speaker's Conference (on Parliamentary
Representation)
On 12 November 2008 the House of Commons
agreed to establish a new committee, to be chaired by the Speaker
and known as the Speaker's Conference.
The Conference has been asked to: "Consider,
and make recommendations for rectifying, the disparity between
the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people
in the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population
at large". It may also consider other associated matters.
The Speaker's Conference has until the
end of the Parliament to conduct its inquiries.
Current membership
Under the leadership of the Speaker,
Rt Hon John Bercow MP, the membership of the Conference is:
Miss Anne Begg MP (Labour, Aberdeen
South) (Vice-Chairman)
Ms Diane Abbott MP (Labour, Hackney
North & Stoke Newington)
Mr David Blunkett MP (Labour, Sheffield,
Brightside)
Angela Browning MP (Conservative, Tiverton
& Honiton)
Mr Ronnie Campbell MP (Labour, Blyth
Valley)
Mrs Ann Cryer MP (Labour, Keighley)
Mr Parmjit Dhanda MP (Labour, Gloucester)
Andrew George MP (Liberal Democrats,
St Ives)
Miss Julie Kirkbride MP (Conservative,
Bromsgrove)
Dr William McCrea MP (Democratic Unionist,
South Antrim)
David Maclean MP (Conservative, Penrith
& The Border)
Fiona Mactaggart MP (Labour, Slough)
Mr Khalid Mahmood MP (Labour, Birmingham,
Perry Barr)
Anne Main MP (Conservative, St Albans)
Jo Swinson MP (Liberal Democrat, East
Dunbartonshire)
Mrs Betty Williams MP (Labour, Conwy)
Publication
The Reports and evidence of the Speaker's
Conference are published by The Stationery Office by Order of
the House. All publications of the Committee (including press
notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/speakersconference.
A list of Reports of the Conference
in the is at the back of this volume.
Conference staff
The current staff of the Conference
are Mrs Elizabeth Hunt (Joint Secretary), Mr Paul Zimmermann (Joint
Secretary), Mr Philip Aylett (Adviser), Ms Laura Kibby (Media
Officer), Miss Emma Sawyer (Senior Committee Assistant) and Mr
Ian Blair (Committee Assistant).
Specialist Advisers
The following were appointed as Specialist
Advisers to the Conference: Professor Sarah Childs (University
of Bristol), Lorraine Gradwell MBE (Chief Executive, Breakthrough
UK), Professor Shamit Saggar (University of Sussex) and Professor
Paul Whiteley (University of Essex).
Contacts
All correspondence should be addressed
to the Joint Secretaries of the Speaker's Conference, House of
Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for
general enquiries is 020 7219 0654; Type Talk Tel: 020 7219 1587;
the Conference's email address is spconference@parliament.uk.
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