The House of Commons announced last week that Nusrat Ghani was elected to the post of Chairman of Ways and Means in a secret ballot of MPs.
Ms Ghani said: “I am delighted to have secured the confidence of MPs across the House and to have been elected as Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Ways and Means. I am honoured to be representing Sussex in the Chair and I am hugely grateful to local residents for sharing their kind words of support with me since my election to the role. This is the first time that the Speaker has an all-female line up of Deputy Speakers and I hope that this will inspire the next generation of women and girls from across Sussex Weald. I look forward to working with my colleagues as well as Mr Speaker on Parliamentary integrity, security and impartiality.”
The Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he is delighted to have an all-female line-up of Deputy Speakers, which is also the most diverse.
Mr Speaker said: “This Parliament is breaking more glass ceilings than ever before, with the biggest number of women MPs ever – and now an all-female team of Deputies. All three MPs are incredible politicians who are well-respected by this House.”
Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani was first elected in 2015. In the last Parliament she held Ministerial positions in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Department for Business and Trade.
The House of Commons said the Deputy Speakers’ role is to assist the Speaker in his duties in the chair. They said the principal Deputy Speaker is the Chairman of Ways and Means, elected from the opposite side of the House to the Speaker.
A House of Commons spokesperson said: “The Deputy Speakers are elected using the single transferable vote system. Two of the Deputy Speakers must come from the opposite side of the House to side from which the Speaker came: they are the Chairman of Ways and Means and the Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means. One of the Deputy Speakers must come from the same side of the House as the side from which the Speaker came: they are the First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means.”
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