Commons Transport Select Committee seeks new Chair

With the elevation of Transport Select Committee Chairman Huw Merriman to Rail Minister, a contest will decide who replaces him.

In line with standard Select Committee practice, nominations for the Chair have opened. They close on November 15.

Any MP can stand for the vacant position on the Committee. As this issue of RAIL closed for press nominations had already been made for five MPs.

■ Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) - current TSC member.

■ Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) - former TSC member.

■ Katherine Fletcher (South Ribble) - Transport Minister until sacked at the reshuffle.

■ Jackie Doyle-Price (Thurrock).

■ Karl McCartney (Lincoln). The TSC scrutinises and challenges policy issues of the DfT, its associated public bodies, and the wider transport industry. It comprises 11 MPs, appointed by the House of Commons and drawn from four political parties. The role of Chair is currently designated as a Conservative post.

As Chair, Merriman asked urgent questions in Parliament and recently questioned RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch on the rail strikes during a TSC session. On the TSC since 2015, Merriman has been its Chair since 2020, when he replaced Labour’s Lilian Greenwood.

“It was a wrench to leave, and I would not have left it for a role which wasn’t within Transport,” he said.

Select Committees work in the Commons and Lords. They check and report on areas ranging from the work of government departments to economic affairs. The results of these inquiries are public and many require a response from the government.