Blunt’s victory is an emphatic win for the pro-Palestinian cause

By Paul Goodman

ConservativeHome – 18 June 2015

The issue of Israel/Palestine is top of the foreign affairs list for Labour MPs – whose votes will have decided the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Chairmanship. Crispin Blunt is strongly identified with the pro-Palestinian cause. He won the post, defeating John Baron, Richard Graham, Daniel Kawczynski and our columnist Nadhim Zahawi.

Being a thorn in the side of the Government is a plus for opposition MPs … Julian Lewis and Jesse Norman are notably independent-minded MPs, both of whom have had run-ins with the Party leadership. Lewis is the new Chairman of the Defence Select Committee – he nearly won the post last time round – and Norman is the new Chairman over at Culture, Media and Sport. Expertise also helps. No-one can claim that either of these gentlemen don’t know their topic, though that is also true of Damian Collins, Bob Stewart, Damian Green and other candidates.

… And a thorn in the side of the opposition is a plus for Government MPs. Frank Field has been very critical of the Government over housing benefit reform, but has a long record of championing radical change to the welfare system, which has always gone down well with Conservatives. He chaired the committee back in the 1990s – and is back in charge again today.

Congratulations to the winners, commiserations to the losers. Full list below.

Results of the Select Committee Chairmen elections … Names marked with a star* indicates the election was uncontested.

Backbench Business – Ian Mearns (Labour)

Business, Innovation and Skills – Iain Wright (Labour)

Communities and Local Government – Clive Betts* (Labour)

Culture, Media and Sport – Jesse Norman (Conservative)

Defence – Dr Julian Lewis (Conservative)

Education – Neil Carmichael (Conservative)

Energy and Climate Change – Angus MacNeil* (SNP)

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Neil Parish* (Conservative)

Environmental Audit – Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour)

Foreign Affairs – Crispin Blunt (Conservative)

Health – Dr Sarah Wollaston (Conservative)

Home Affairs – Keith Vaz (Labour)

International Development – Stephen Twigg (Labour)

Justice – Bob Neill (Conservative)

Northern Ireland Affairs – Laurence Robertson* (Conservative)

Petitions – Helen Jones (Labour)

Procedure – Charles Walker* (Conservative)

Public Accounts – Meg Hillier (Labour)

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs – Bernard Jenkin* (Conservative)

Science and Technology – Nicola Blackwood (Conservative)

Scottish Affairs – Pete Wishart* (SNP)

Standards – Kevin Barron* (Labour)

Transport – Louise Ellman* (Labour)

Treasury – Andrew Tyrie* (Conservative)

Welsh Affairs – David T.C Davies* (Conservative)

Women and Equalities – Maria Miller* (Conservative)

Work and Pensions – Frank Field (Labour)