MP Appointed To Constitutional Reform Select Committee

3.22.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 21st Jul 2010

Stephen Williams, MP for Bristol West, has been appointed as a Member of the House of Commons Select Committee for Political & Constitutional Reform.

This newly-created Select Committee will scrutinise issues relating to constitutional and political reform, such as voting reform and House of Lords reform, and will interview key 'witnesses' to gain further intelligence on these matters in order to make recommendations to the Government.

Upon his appointment Mr Williams said, "I am delighted to have been appointed to this important Select Committee. Constitutional Reform has been a long-standing interest of mine and I hope that the work that this committee does will be influential in shaping the Government's plans in this area, particularly with the AV referendum coming up next year."

Select Committees work in both Houses. 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.

The House of Commons agreed in June 2010 that this committee should be established to consider political and constitutional reform, scrutinising the work of the Deputy Prime Minister.

The committee consists of eleven Members of Parliament, drawn from across the political parties, both those in government and the official opposition. It will be chaired by Labour MP Graham Allen and Mr Williams will be the sole Liberal Democrat member.

In its first oral evidence session on Thursday 15 July, the committee questioned Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, Deputy Prime Minister, about the government's programme of constitutional reform, including the government's plans for a referendum on AV, for fewer MPs representing more equally sized constituencies and for fixed-term parliaments.