iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

The Committee of Selection has met and nominated 23 MPs to the committee examining the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Slightly larger than a standard bill committee, it contains two ministers (both of whom supported the bill at 2R), another twelve bill supporters and nine opponents

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 23 proposed members of the bill committee, including MPs like Rachel Hopkins and Danny Kruger

121

Likewise, this 2000 report on the operation of programme motions gives the example of the Financial Services and Markets Bill, which had two days for Report before a programme motion was even agreed Again, 20 years later, it would be very unusual for a bill to be given three days for report stage

An excerpt from a report from 2000 entitled 'Programming of legislation and timing of votes' describing the operation of programme motions in the 1999-2000 session. It reads: "Two days had already been given to the consideration of the Financial Services and Markets Bill, most of that time having been spent on new clauses, before a programme motion was agreed for the remaining provisions of the Bill. The motion provided for five blocks of one hour each for various groups of amendments and for proceedings on third reading to be completed by 10pm." [The remainder of the paragraph goes into more detail on the debate.]

This 1998 report recommends giving the Speaker power to vary the time limit on speeches but notes that "in our view [the limit] should never be less than eight minutes" An 8 minute speaking limit would be a luxury in today's Commons

An excerpt from a 1998 report from the Modernisation Committee entitled 'Conduct in the Chamber'. It reads: "The changes that have taken place over the last few years in the rules governing short speeches have increased the discretion given to the Speaker both as to the time within which the limit can be imposed and the type of debate to which it can apply. We recommend that this discretion should be further extended to permit variations in the length of time
allocated for speeches made under the Standing Order. There is nothing sacrosanct about ten minutes. There may well be occasions when, on a rather technical or emotive subject, a slightly longer period of, say, fifteen minutes might be more appropriate. On the other side
of the coin, some debates are very severely time-limited. An opposition half-day debate, in which there art likely to be four front bench speeches, is limited to three hours, even if it starts on time. A debate on a piece of delegated legislation is normally limited to one and a half hours. Such legislation can be of great interest, such as the recent beef on the bone regulations. In such exceptional debates there may be a case for a speech limit of less than ten minutes. The formal limit would be for the Speaker to determine, although in our view
it should never be less than eight minutes. Again there would be no difficulty in making the necessary Standing Order change, and no insuperable practical difficulty in operating the Table clock."

120

Reading back reports from the previous iteration of the Modernisation Committee and stumbled across what must be one of the earliest uses of the phrase "poor vibes" in the parliamentary record – by none other than Peter Bone MP, speaking here in 2007

A transcript of oral evidence given by Peter Bone MP to the Modernisation Committee in 2007. It reads: "Mr Bone: First of all, I hate to appear before something called "the Modernisation Committee". I think it would be much better if it were called the "Reforming" or the "Structure" Committee. "Modernisation" has very poor vibes for me."

1132

She described her legacy as maybe 'more of a campaigner' than an administrator - a strength that may well be key in her new role

Margaret Hodge: "So all the big battles have been with others – when I was fighting the BNP in the borough, when I was fighting here [in parliament, as the chair of the Public Accounts Committee] doing the dirty money and tax avoidance and evasion. So maybe I’m more of a campaigner, but I’ve enjoyed both and people think I’m an okay administrator. But it’s weird, the years as a minister were, on the whole, I think good years."

130

She discussed taking compassionate leave - one of the first ministers to do so - and the handling challenges this involved

Margaret Hodge: "Andy Burnham [then Hodge’s secretary of state at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport] rang me and said, “what the hell are you taking leave for? You’re bonkers.” And I thought he was bonkers to tell me I was bonkers."

100

Much like the prime minister last week, she expressed frustration at the civil service machine, describing the Department of Health as a 'sort of Stalinist empire' and officials at the Department for Trade and Industry as 'pen pushers'

Margaret Hodge: "[T]hey were the most appalling civil servants. I just couldn’t stand it. They were pen pushers: ‘as long as it’s off my desk’. They’d never do a report in time. They’d never come back in time."

100

Finn Baker @finnbaker.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

In a memorable interview, she discussed the frustrations of being a junior minister, including battling to make appointments in the face of opposition from her officials

Margaret Hodge: "And I just didn't realise that nothing, nothing you decided as a junior (I was a PUSS)... I didn't have the power to decide, which was completely frustrating."

100

MPs are set to approve the membership of the liaison committee later today. The 32-strong membership, drawn from the chairs of the other Commons select committees, oversees the committee system and holds regular evidence sessions with the PM

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 32 chairs that make up the House of Commons liaison committee, including the 20 chairs of departmental select committees and containing figures like Meg Hillier (chair of the Treasury select committee) and Liam Byrne (chair of the Business and Trade select committee).

122

Finn Baker @finnbaker.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Very unusually for a private members' bill, Kim Leadbeater has put down a motion that would allow the public bill committee on the assisted dying bill to take evidence

A motion on tomorrow's order paper that the committee on the Terminally Ill Adults Bill be given the power to send for persons, papers and records

75819

Finally, there are seven opposition whips in the Lords, led by Baroness Williams of Trafford

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 7 members of opposition whips' office in the House of Lords, led by Baroness Williams of Trafford.

100

Lord True is supported in the Lords by 28 other shadow ministers. This is a larger Lords team than he led in government, perhaps reflecting a desire to lighten the load placed on shadow ministers (all of whom are unpaid)

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 29 members of shadow Lords team, including figures like Viscount Camrose and the Earl of Minto.

Rebecca Harris is joined in the opposition whips' office by another 19 MPs, eight of whom also shadow departmental briefs

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 20 members of opposition whips' office, including figures like Nick Timothy and Alicia Kearns.

There are a further 26 junior shadow ministers in the House of Commons

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 26 junior shadow ministers in the House of Commons, including figures like Helen Grant and Danny Kruger.

Finn Baker @finnbaker.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Kemi Badenoch's shadow frontbench in full 🧵 There are 25 members of the shadow cabinet. Julia Lopez (not shown here) also attends shadow cabinet as Kemi Badenoch's parliamentary private secretary

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 25 members of Kemi Badenoch's shadow cabinet, including figures like Robert Jenrick and Victoria Atkins.

293

Kemi Badenoch has finalised her shadow frontbench and, notably, 15 of her shadow ministers currently hold select committee posts (exc. ex officio members of the Modernisation/Procedure committees) Will there be a reshuffle on the committee corridor or will these shadow ministers double hat?

A graphic showing shadow ministers who are also select committee members, featuring individuals like Jesse Norman and Alicia Kearns

2118

Finn Baker @finnbaker.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Sneak preview: assuming it passes 2nd reading, these particular clauses of the bill will need what's known as a 'money resolution' at committee stage. This is required to authorise new spending (in this case the possibility of funding assisted dying through the NHS) and must be moved by a minister

A screenshot of section 32 of the bill ('Secretary of State’s powers to ensure assistance is available'). The italic text indicates that these clauses introduce new expenditure and will require a money resolution.

100

And the challenges of balancing ministerial and parliamentary duties

Robert Halfon: "The workload is crazy, because you're expected to deal with stakeholders, you're expected to be able to answer debates in parliament... And do a bill. And do your constituency stuff."

100

He remembers with pride his role in developing the lifelong learning entitlement

Robert Halfon: "Developing the lifelong learning entitlement... is going to be life-changing and one of the most transformative things we've done as a government, in my view, in the last 10 years"

100

Finally, Robert Halfon remembers being George Osborne’s parliamentary private secretary – a appointment which required, unusually, the minister to carry the bags

Robert Halfon: "Because of my legs George Osborne occasionally helped me carry my briefcase, so I said that I was the first PPS in history where the secretary of state carried my bags, not the other way round!"

100

And he describes the ‘toughness’ required to block the Gender Recognition Reform Act – describing it as his biggest impact in post

Sir Alister Jack: "I'm not going to write the story of those behind the scenes who disagreed with the [section 35] decision, but let's just say it wasn't unanimous"

100

He recalls conflict with the Scottish Government over the possibility of a second referendum

Sir Alister Jack: "I wasn't in any way rattled by [Nicola Sturgeon's] announcement that she was having a referendum. I never believed for a minute it would happen."

100

Sir Alister talks about his frustrations at the lack of UK Government presence in Scotland

Sir Alister Jack: "I felt that devolution had eroded not so much our powers but had eroded our presence in Scotland, and I wanted everyone to know that they had two governments in Scotland"

100

And she reflects on being the first minister to take compassionate leave – both the support of Gordon Brown and the concern of her other colleagues

Dame Margaret Hodge: "Andy Burnham [then Hodge’s secretary of state at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport] rang me and said, “what the hell are you taking leave for? You’re bonkers.”"

100

She describes her battles with civil servants, including ‘pen pushers’ at the Department for Trade and Industry

Dame Margaret Hodge: "They were the most appalling civil servants [at DTI}. I just couldn’t stand it. They were pen pushers: ‘as long as it’s off my desk’. They’d never do a report in time. They’d never come back in time."

100

Finn Baker @finnbaker.bsky.social · 05/11/2024

Dame Margaret remembers the challenges involved with setting up Sure Start and her deep regret that it was so easily destroyed post-2010

Dame Margaret Hodge: "Sure Start never had a statutory backing so when the cuts came in 2010, it was the easiest thing to destroy."

100

But perhaps some good news on the horizon if tomorrow’s order paper is to be believed…

Notice of a written ministerial statement to be laid by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on Wednesday 6 November entitled ‘Transparency and Accountability’

000

But perhaps most surprisingly, none of the members of the Scottish Affairs committee – not even the chair – were MPs before the election

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 11 members of the Scottish affairs select committee, where none of the members were in parliament before the election.

... and the transport committee too

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 11 members of the transport select committee, where the chair Ruth Cadbury is the only member who was in parliament before the election.

100

It's a similar picture with PACAC (which is still one Conservative member short)

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 10 members of the public administration and constitutional affairs select committee, where the chair Simon Hoare is the only member who was in parliament before the election.

100

Finn Baker @finnbaker.bsky.social · 15/10/2024

Only one member of the justice committee – the chair, Andy Slaughter – was in parliament before the election and of the remainder, only Tessa Munt has parliamentary experience

A graphic from the Institute for Government showing the 11 members of the Justice select committee, where the chair Andy Slaughter is the only member who was in parliament before the election.

100

The vast majority of PMBs are never debated – and often never even printed. Only a quarter of bills even had a second reading scheduled and just a third of that group made it through to committee stage.

A Sankey diagram from the Institute for Government showing the progress of the 2,516 private members’ bills introduced between 2010–12 and 2023–24, where 698 PMBs had a second reading debate scheduled in the first house and just 110 PMBs made it into law.

120

Finn Baker @finnbaker.bsky.social · 15/10/2024

This is true even once you adjust for the differing length of parliamentary sessions. An average of 0.6 PMBs per sitting day were introduced in the Commons in the 1997–98 session (a figure maintained for nearly a decade), but by 2023–24 this average had risen to 1.7

A column chart from the Institute for Government showing the number of private members' bills per sitting day which were introduced in each session between 1997 and 2024, where the average has risen over time.

Finn Baker @finnbaker.bsky.social · 15/10/2024

Instead, I think it’s useful to highlight just how many PMBs are introduced each session. While only 20 MPs are drawn in the PMB ballot (and their bills given precedence), many more bills are introduced by presentation or through the ten minute rule process

A column chart from the Institute for Government showing the number of private members' bills introduced each session between 1997 and 2024, with almost 400 bills introduced in the 2017-19 session.

100

Finn Baker @finnbaker.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

I think that partly reflected Sunak's desire to streamline the committee system, which had got quite large under Boris Johnson, but also the different focus of the previous committee, which didn't include the business secretary, for instance (as it does now)

A chart from the Institute for Government showing the number of cabinet committees since 2010, showing a significant fall in the number of committees when Liz Truss took office

171

But interestingly, the earliest uses of the phrase appear to refer to the British people themselves, including this use by William Hamilton MP in 1972 and even a reference to the voters of Coventry in Hansard in 1968

William Hamilton MP using the phrase in 1972

C Pannell using the phrase with reference to his own voters in Coventry in 1968

By 1990, things had already started to break down, with the Observer forced to complain about other journalists incorrectly applying the term to the Conservative Party

130

Here's the Times diary column in 1989, again using the phrase with reference to the PLP, but this time questioning whether a similar phrase was required for the Tories

120

Here's Stuart Bell, secretary of Solidarity, using the term with reference to the PLP - quoted in the Guardian in 1985

100

Finn Baker @finnbaker.bsky.social · 06/10/2024

Four ministerial appointments have been added to our @instituteforgov.bsky.social Ministers Database since launch day, including three more appointments made last night

A screenshot from the IfG Ministers Database (link below) showing the appointment of Pat McFadden as minister for intergovernmental relations on 5 September, and three appointments on 8 October: Lord Cryer as a Lord in Waiting and Seema Malhotra and Nia Griffith as ministers for equality.

142

Sue Gray isn’t the only short serving Downing Street chief of staff: remarkably few have lasted any time in post since 2016

A chart from the Institute for Government showing the Downing Street chiefs of staff since 1979, which shows a rapid rate of turnover in recent years.

21814

And last, but by absolutely no means least, Sir Jeremy Wright (Con) is running to be chair of the Committee on Standards – a long-standing attorney general and slightly less long-standing culture secretary

A timeline chart from the Institute for Government showing the ministerial roles of Sir Jeremy Wright, a former attorney general

100

Simon Hoare (Con) is running for PACAC, having given up his post as Northern Ireland committee chair in order to take up a red box as minister for local government

A timeline chart from the Institute for Government showing the ministerial roles of Simon Hoare, lately the minister for local government

100

Joining him in the race is John Glen (Con), who – after a brief spell at DCMS – decided the centre of government was more of his style and spent a number of years rotating around the Treasury and the Cabinet Office

A timeline chart from the Institute for Government showing the ministerial roles of John Glen, a former Cabinet Office minister

100

David Davis (Con) joins the trio of Conservatives running for the Public Accounts Committee. A Major minister and, latterly, Theresa May’s Brexit secretary

A timeline chart from the Institute for Government showing the ministerial roles of David Davis, former Brexit secretary

100

Barry Gardiner (Lab) is running for the environmental audit committee. In classic late Blair fashion, Gardiner held three ministerial offices in as many years

A timeline chart from the Institute for Government showing the ministerial roles of Barry Gardiner, who held office at the NIO, DTI and Defra in just 3 years

100