CPA 22 November 2016

I was delighted to chair and contribute at a session in Portcullis House on the Role of a Member of Parliament on Tuesday 22nd November 2016. The panel also included Stephen Hammond MP, and Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh OBE MP. The objectives of the session were to point out: the role of an MP in the UK Parliament; how to find the right balance between handling various commitments, in and out of their constituency, as well as taking into account personal interests and political pressures; the relationship between the political party and the MP; and finally, the differences between a list MP and a constituency MP.

I introduced the panellists and set out the aims of the session and covered the role of an MP in the Parliament and highlighted the differences between being a backbencher and frontbencher. Additionally, I addressed the topic of the relation between the Party and the MP and touched on how the relationship is changing.

The three panellists then gave answers to various questions to the remaining questions, gave their own personal thoughts on how the role of an MP is changing and the impact of the death of Jo Cox MP. This was shortly followed by a discussion and Q&A. The Seminar was attended by 43 parliamentarians and 26 Clerks from 29 legislatures from across the Commonwealth.