Westminster committees lacking a Northern Ireland voice

Only three of Northern Ireland’s 18 MPs are to sit on House of Commons select committees, all on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

With the exception of DUP leader Gavin Robinson MP, SDLP leader Claire Hanna MP, and Alliance’s Sorcha Eastwood MP sitting on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC), the 15 other MPs (Sinn Féin’s seven MPs abstain from all Westminster committees), will not sit on any select committees.

Select committees work in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, checking and reporting on areas ranging from the work of government departments to economic affairs. They run inquiries on specific topics, with the outcomes being presented to the public and require a response by the UK Government to their findings.

Members of most select committees, including departmental select committees, are nominated by a motion put before the House of Commons, normally by the Committee of Selection. Since 2010, select committees have consisted of 11 members, but some have been expanded to 13 members to ensure that there is minor party representation and that committees also feature a healthy representation of members from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

It is uncommon for most Northern Ireland MPs (excluding Sinn Féin) to not feature on select committees. Current DUP MPs Gregory Campbell, Jim Shannon, and Sammy Wilson, who have sat on the Westminster backbenches for a combined 51 years, have all featured on various subcommittees as recently as May 2024.

There has been a precedent for both newly elected and reelected MPs from the region to sit on the NIAC, but with the a record number of Northern Ireland parties (six plus an independent) winning representation in the House of Commons, some politicians have raised their ire over the lack of Northern Ireland representation of select committees.

Alex Easton MP told agendaNi that he had asked to sit on the NIAC, but that he was “totally ignored”, having emailed all the whips of all the main parties and the whip party offices. Jim Allister MP told agendaNi that he also sought to obtain a place on the NIAC and accused the UK Parliament of taking a decision to “sideline unionism”.

Allister added: “It is a shame that MPs from Northern Ireland have not made it on to any other select committees as these are important forums in which issues pertaining to the whole UK are discussed.”

Sammy Wilson MP also told agendaNi that he expressed his interest to serve on the Energy and Net Zero Committee, saying: “I would have thought it would have been helpful to have Northern Ireland representation on some of those committees.”