Old stagers and complete newcomers: Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ministerial team is taking shape. But is it a good idea to turn newly-minted MPs straight into ministers? Looking ahead we also explore the upcoming Deputy Speaker elections and the allocation of Select Committee chairs.
With hundreds of new MPs entering Parliament, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we examine the contrasting experiences of those leaving, disappointed and deflated. Former Conservative MP Paul Masterton shares his insights on life after losing his seat in 2019. Did he receive a commiseration phone call from his party leader and the party chair? How long did it take him to find alternative employment? And what is his advice for former MPs adjusting now to life outside Parliament after being cast out of Westminster by the voters?
Next week it’s the State Opening of Parliament when the Labour Government will unveil its programme of new laws in the King’s Speech. But are the processions and the pomp of the State Opening becoming a bit of an embarrassing hangover of past national glories? Parliamentary historian Daniel Brittain explains why he thinks the ceremony still matters.
Daniel Brittain
Daniel is a parliamentary historian as well as a broadcaster and producer on parliamentary, ceremonial and constitutional affairs. He spent most of his recent career at the BBC, where he presented BBC Parliament's live coverage of key parliamentary events including State Openings, Prorogations, and meetings of new Parliaments. He recently acted as a broadcaster and commentator for significant constitutional events, particularly the Coronation of Charles III and the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. He writes an occasional column for the House Magazine exploring parliamentary and ceremonial history.
Paul Masterton
Paul Masterton was the Conservative Member of Parliament for East Renfrewshire from 2017 until 2019, when he narrowly lost his seat to the SNP at the General Election. While in Parliament, he served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Home Office ministerial team, but resigned from this role in March 2019 to vote against the Government and oppose the UK leaving the European Union without a deal. Masterton was also the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democratic Participation and co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on British Jews and on Surgical Mesh. His parliamentary campaigns included pension scheme reform, changes to the annual allowance taper for NHS pensions, and the imposition of a statutory duty of care on telecommunications companies.
Is it a good idea to turn newly minted MPs straight into ministers in Keir Starmer's ministerial team?
How can new MPs make an effective parliamentary career and avoid becoming court jesters?
Who are the candidates for the upcoming election of deputy speakers?
How will the allocation of select committee chairs be determined, and what is the significance of standing orders continuing from one parliament to the next without re-adoption?
What happens to MPs who lose their seats in the general election, and how do they cope with the transition?
What kind of support should be provided for MPs who lose their seats, and what improvements have been made in this area?
What does the ritual of the state opening of Parliament mean, and is it time to move on from such traditions?
Parliament Matters is supported by a grant from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, a Quaker trust which engages in philanthropy and supports work on democratic accountability.
Hansard Society
BBC Parliament
Mark D'Arcy and Daniel Brittain practice the 'doffing' of caps undertaken by the Lords Commissioners at the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons and the prorogation of Parliament.
Please note, this transcript is automatically generated. There are consequently minor errors and the text is not formatted according to our style guide. If you wish to reference or cite the transcript copy below, please first check against the audio version above. Timestamps are provided above each paragraph.
00:00:02:07 - 00:00:17:02 You're listening to Parliament Matters, a Hansard Society production, supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Learn more at hansardsociety.org.uk. 00:00:17:04 - 00:00:36:15 Welcome to Parliament Matters, the podcast about the institution at the heart of our democracy, Parliament itself. I'm Ruth Fox and I'm Mark D'Arcy. Coming up this week, the cavalry will arrive. The fanfares will blare out. His Majesty will don his crown and take his throne in the House of Lords. But what does the ritual of state opening mean? 00:00:36:17 - 00:01:03:05 Is it maybe time to move on? Old stagers and complete newcomers. Keir Starmer's ministerial team contains some surprise names, but is it really a good idea to turn newly minted MPs straight into ministers? And the loneliness of the defeated MP. What happens to those cast out of Westminster by the voters? 00:01:03:07 - 00:01:23:23 Well, Ruth, it's not even a week on since the result of the general election crystallized, we saw the exit poll and realized that Keir Starmer was going to be the Prime Minister and Labour were going to form the next government. But it seems, though, that an awful lot has happened, even in the few days since everybody recovered from their Election Day hangovers. 00:01:24:03 - 00:01:46:12 Sir Keir Starmer has wasted no time in appointing a government that contains. As I said just now, a few surprises, really. There are some old stagers plucked back from whatever role they were performing before in public to lend a bit of experience to what is otherwise a pretty inexperienced ministerial team. People like Jacqui Smith, the former Home secretary who's been given a job in the Department for Education, for example. 00:01:46:17 - 00:02:07:02 There have been some outside figures, like Patrick Vallance, the former chief scientific adviser. He's now been made a minister and seems to have a brief in charge of policy around things like AI. There's a prisons expert in the shape of James Timpson. There are all kinds of new faces, some of whom were not there as part of Labour's frontbench team before. 00:02:07:08 - 00:02:26:06 But the biggest surprise of all is that counting five newly elected members of Parliament have gone straight in as ministers. And this is something that's incredibly rare, not least because it's almost always a good idea for an MP to be allowed to find their feet and learn how to function in Parliament before taking on responsibility as a minister of the Crown. 00:02:26:06 - 00:02:44:20 And Keir Starmer has gone straight past go. This time they're not collecting 200 pounds, they're collecting a ministerial red box instead. And a car. Yes. I mean, this is something obviously we talked about on the podcast last week when you were telling us the story about Harold Wilson, who'd done the same. He'd arrived in ministerial office in 1945.
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The Private Members’ Bill (PMB) ballot for this Session has been drawn, giving 20 MPs the opportunity to introduce a law of their choice. Potential bills could include proposals such as assisted dying, but what are the real chances of success? We talk to PMB expert, Dr. Daniel Gover, to understand the value of these bills and what to watch out for in the coming months.
It's a busy first week back after the Summer recess. Backbench MPs will be hoping they get drawn in the Private Members' Bill ballot. Meanwhile they will be lobbied for support by dozens of candidates hoping to chair Select Committees. Conservative MPs will also face heavy lobbying from their party leadership candidates. The first Government Bills should complete their passage through the House of Commons but more attention is likely to focus on the Government's changes to Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners.
How is a King’s Speech crafted? What really happens behind the doors of the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Cabinet Committee? How have parliamentary tactics on legislation evolved and what new tactics might MPs employ when facing a Government with such a commanding majority? In this episode we discuss the art and strategy of law-making with Nikki da Costa, former Director of Legislative Affairs for two Conservative Prime Ministers in 10 Downing Street.
Before the General Election, the Government rushed through legislation - in the form of two Statutory Instruments - to temporarily restrict the supply of 'puberty blockers' to under-18s for gender dysphoria. One of those Instruments has now been the subject of a judicial review, before MPs have had any opportunity to consider it. Reasonable people can hold different views on the policy merits, but the way that a policy of such political and legal salience was implemented demonstrates some of the anomalies and weaknesses in the delegated legislation system – particularly how the parliamentary calendar can undermine MPs’ role in scrutinising such Instruments - and why the system needs reform.
This week's bruising Commons exchange between the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the man she replaced at the Treasury, Jeremy Hunt, is just the opening encounter in what promises to be a long running parliamentary battle over the state of the public finances. MPs can expect to be asked to approve extra spending Estimates in the autumn, and there'll be a Budget and a full-scale Comprehensive Spending Review as well.
