Scottish Affairs Select Committee
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The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland (and prior to that, the Scottish Office), and relations with the Scottish Parliament. It also looks at the administration and expenditure of the Advocate General for Scotland.
Unlike the Scottish Grand Committee, MPs from constituencies outside Scotland can, and do, sit on the Scottish Affairs Committee.
Predecessors
Before 1992 there was not consistent Select Committee scrutiny of Scottish affairs. In 1968 a committee was formed partly in response to the growth of Scottish nationalism, although the committee was closed down by a reorganisation of select committees by Edward Heath's government in 1972. In 1979 Norman St John Stevas the Leader of the House under Margaret Thatcher's government instituted a Select Committee system that closely mirrored government departments in order to have better parliamentary scrutiny of the government. This was again discontinued in 1987 although there was an alternative Scottish Affairs committee composed of opposition MPs.
Membership
Membership of the committee is as follows:
Changes since 2024
| Date | Outgoing Member & Party | Constituency | → | New Member & Party | Constituency | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 June 2025 | Stephen Flynn MP (Scottish National Party) | Aberdeen South | → | Dave Doogan MP (Scottish National Party) | Angus and Perthshire Glens |
2019–2024 Parliament
The chair was elected on 27 January 2020. Members of the committee were announced on 2 March 2020, but Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) objected to the appointment, claiming that not enough Scottish MPs had been selected. The debate was adjourned, and the committee was eventually constituted on 4 May 2020, when the list of proposed members was put before the house without objection.
Changes 2019–2024
2017–2019 Parliament
The election of the chair took place on 12 July 2017, with the members of the committee being announced on 11 September 2017.
Changes 2017–2019
| Date | Outgoing Member & Party | Constituency | → | New Member & Party | Constituency | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 October 2018 | Paul Masterton MP (Conservative) | East Renfrewshire | → | Kirstene Hair MP (Conservative) | Angus | |||
| 1 April 2019 | Kirstene Hair MP (Conservative) | Angus | → | Paul Masterton MP (Conservative) | East Renfrewshire | |||
| 21 October 2019 | Christine Jardine MP (Liberal Democrats) | Edinburgh West | → | Jamie Stone MP (Liberal Democrats) | Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross |
2015–2017 Parliament
The chair was elected on 18 June 2015, with members being announced on 6 July 2015.
Changes 2015–2017
| Date | Outgoing Member & Party | Constituency | → | New Member & Party | Constituency | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2016 | David Anderson MP (Labour) | Blaydon | → | Ian Murray MP (Labour) | Edinburgh South | |||
| Kirsty Blackman MP (SNP) | Aberdeen North | Deidre Brock MP (SNP) | Edinburgh North and Leith | |||||
| 28 November 2016 | Maggie Throup MP (Conservative) | Erewash | → | Anna Soubry MP (Conservative) | Broxtowe | |||
| 23 January 2017 | Dr Dan Poulter MP (Conservative) | Central Suffolk and North Ipswich | → | Craig Williams MP (Conservative) | Cardiff North |
2010–2015 Parliament
The chair was elected on 10 June 2010, with members being announced on 12 July 2010.
Changes 2010–2015
List of chairs
| Member | First elected | Method | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vacant | June 1987 | ||
| William McKelvey | 15 July 1992 | Elected by the Select Committee | |
| Irene Adams | 14 July 1997 | Elected by the Select Committee | |
| Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar | 13 July 2005 | Elected by the Select Committee | |
| Ian Davidson | 10 June 2010 | Elected by the House of Commons (uncontested) | |
| Pete Wishart | 10 June 2015 | Elected by the House of Commons (uncontested) | |
| Patricia Ferguson | 11 September 2024 | Elected by the House of Commons |