Electoral Commission

Thangam Debbonaire Excerpts

Tuesday 20th July 2021 General Committees

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford, in this, my first outing in this wonderful role as shadow Leader of the House. I thank the Leader of the House for today’s motion on the reappointment of an electoral commissioner, Sarah Chambers, and the appointment of an electoral commissioner with responsibility for Northern Ireland, Dr Katy Radford.

As the Leader of the House has said, Mr Speaker has consulted with the Leader of the Opposition about these appointments and no objections were received, so we are very happy to support them today. Both candidates were recommended for appointment or reappointment by the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission. Dr Radford has a long record of service in contributing to community relations in Northern Ireland, something for which she received an MBE in 2011. I also thank Anna Carragher, whose term ended on 31 December 2020, for all her contributions while in office. Sarah Chambers has a long record of service to public organisations, and has served on the Electoral Commission since 31 March 2018. She was recommended to be reappointed for a second term, with the chair of the Electoral Commission, Mr John Pullinger, noting that she had

“met the high expectations of performance set for all Commissioners”

and concluding that

“he had no hesitation in recommending her for re-appointment.”

Her Majesty’s Opposition therefore have great pleasure in supporting the appointment of Dr Katy Radford as electoral commissioner with responsibility for Northern Ireland for a four-year period, and the reappointment of Sarah Chambers as an electoral commissioner for her second four-year term.

Question put and agreed to.