Foreign Affairs Select Committee

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee is one of many select committees of the British House of Commons, which scrutinises the expenditure, administration and policy of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.^[1]

Membership

Membership of the committee is as follows:^[2]

Member		Party	Constituency
	Emily Thornberry MP (Chair)	Labour	Islington South and Finsbury
	Alex Ballinger MP	Labour	Halesowen
	Aphra Brandreth MP	Conservative	Chester South and Eddisbury
	Phil Brickell MP	Labour	Bolton West
	Dan Carden MP	Labour	Liverpool Walton
	Richard Foord MP	Liberal Democrats	Honiton and Sidmouth
	Uma Kumaran MP	Labour	Stratford and Bow
	Blair McDougall MP	Labour	East Renfrewshire
	Abtisam Mohamed MP	Labour	Sheffield Central
	Edward Morello MP	Liberal Democrats	West Dorset
	John Whittingdale MP	Conservative	Maldon

Changes since 2024

Date	Outgoing Member & Party		Constituency	→	New Member & Party		Constituency	Source
16 December 2024		Claire Hazelgrove MP (Labour)	Filton and Bradley Stoke	→		Alex Ballinger MP (Labour)	Halesowen	Hansard
16 December 2024		Matthew Patrick MP (Labour)	Wirral West	→		Phil Brickell MP (Labour)	Bolton West	Hansard

2019-2024 Parliament

The chair was elected on 29 January 2020, with the members of the committee being announced on 2 March 2020.^[3][4] In 2022 Tom Tugendhat stepped down as the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee after assuming a ministerial role as Minister for Security. He was replaced by Alicia Kearns.

Member		Party	Constituency
	Tom Tugendhat (Chair)	Conservative	Tonbridge and Malling
	Chris Bryant	Labour	Rhondda
	Chris Elmore	Labour	Ogmore
	Alicia Kearns	Conservative	Rutland and Melton
	Stewart McDonald	Scottish National Party	Glasgow South
	Ian Murray	Labour	Edinburgh South
	Andrew Rosindell	Conservative	Romford
	Bob Seely	Conservative	Isle of Wight
	Henry Smith	Conservative	Crawley
	Royston Smith	Conservative	Southampton Itchen
	Graham Stringer	Labour	Blackley and Broughton

Changes 2019-2024

Date	Outgoing Member & Party		Constituency	→	New Member & Party		Constituency	Source
11 May 2020		Chris Elmore MP (Labour)	Ogmore	→		Neil Coyle MP (Labour)	Bermondsey and Old Southwark	Hansard
		Ian Murray MP (Labour)	Edinburgh South			Claudia Webbe MP (Labour)	Leicester East
5 January 2022		Claudia Webbe MP (Independent)	Leicester East	→		Liam Byrne MP (Labour)	Birmingham Hodge Hill	Hansard
7 September 2022		Tom Tugendhat MP (Chair, Conservative)	Tonbridge and Malling	→	Vacant			Hansard
12 October 2022		Alicia Kearns MP (Conservative)	Rutland and Melton	→	Vacant			Hansard
	Vacant					Alicia Kearns MP (Chair, Conservative)	Rutland and Melton
29 November 2022	Vacant			→		Saqib Bhatti MP (Conservative)	Meriden	Hansard
9 January 2023		Stewart McDonald MP (SNP)	Glasgow South	→		Drew Hendry MP (SNP)	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey	Hansard
12 September 2023		Drew Hendry MP (SNP)	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey	→		Brendan O'Hara MP (SNP)	Argyll and Bute	Hansard
11 November 2023		Chris Bryant MP (Labour)	Rhondda	→		Dan Carden MP (Labour)	Liverpool Walton	Hansard
		Fabian Hamilton MP (Labour)	Birmingham Hodge Hill			Claudia Webbe MP (Labour)	Leeds North East
11 December 2023		Saqib Bhatti MP (Conservative)	Meriden	→		Ranil Jayawardena MP (Conservative)	North East Hampshire	Hansard

2017–2019 Parliament

The chair was elected on 12 July 2017, with the members of the committee being announced on 11 September 2017.^[5][6]

Member		Party	Constituency
	Tom Tugendhat (Chair)	Conservative	Tonbridge and Malling
	Ian Austin	Labour	Dudley North
	Chris Bryant	Labour	Rhondda
	Ann Clwyd	Labour	Cynon Valley
	Mike Gapes	Labour	Ilford South
	Stephen Gethins	Scottish National Party	North East Fife
	Nus Ghani	Conservative	Wealden
	Ian Murray	Labour	Edinburgh South
	Andrew Rosindell	Conservative	Romford
	Royston Smith	Conservative	Southampton Itchen
	Nadhim Zahawi	Conservative	Stratford-on-Avon

Changes 2017–2019

Date	Outgoing Member & Party		Constituency	→	New Member & Party		Constituency	Source
2 February 2018		Nus Ghani MP (Conservative)	Wealden	→		Priti Patel MP (Conservative)	Witham	Hansard
		Nadhim Zahawi MP (Conservative)	Stratford-on-Avon			Bob Seely MP (Conservative)	Isle of Wight
19 March 2019		Ian Austin MP (Independent)	Dudley North	→		Conor McGinn MP (Labour)[a]	St Helens North	Hansard
		Mike Gapes MP (Change UK)	Stratford-on-Avon			Catherine West MP (Labour)[a]	Hornsey and Wood Green

1. Unusually, this motion was debated by the House. It was objected to by Austin and Gapes, since they perceived it to be retaliation by Jeremy Corbyn for their comments on antisemitism while they were still in the Labour Party. The change was approved by 199 votes to 134.^[7]

2015–2017 Parliament

The chair was elected on 18 June 2015, with members being announced on 8 July 2015.^[8][9]

Member		Party	Constituency
	Crispin Blunt (Chair)	Conservative	Reigate
	John Baron	Conservative	Basildon and Billericay
	Ann Clwyd	Labour	Cynon Valley
	Mike Gapes	Labour	Ilford South
	Stephen Gethins	Scottish National Party	North East Fife
	Mark Hendrick	Labour and Co-op	Preston
	Adam Holloway	Conservative	Gravesham
	Daniel Kawczynski	Conservative	Shrewsbury and Atcham
	Yasmin Qureshi	Labour	Bolton South East
	Andrew Rosindell	Conservative	Romford
	Nadhim Zahawi	Conservative	Stratford-on-Avon

Changes 2015–2017

Date	Outgoing Member & Party		Constituency	→	New Member & Party		Constituency	Source
31 October 2016		Yasmin Qureshi MP (Labour)	Bolton South East	→		Ian Murray MP (Labour)	Edinburgh South	Hansard

2010–2015 Parliament

The chair was elected on 10 June 2010, with members being announced on 12 July 2010.^[10][11]

Member		Party	Constituency
	Richard Ottaway (Chair)	Conservative	Croydon South
	John Baron	Conservative	Basildon and Billericay
	Menzies Campbell	Liberal Democrats	North East Fife
	Ann Clwyd	Labour	Cynon Valley
	Mike Gapes	Labour	Ilford South
	Emma Reynolds	Labour	Wolverhampton North East
	Andrew Rosindell	Conservative	Romford
	Frank Roy	Labour	Motherwell and Wishaw
	John Stanley	Conservative	Tonbridge and Malling
	Rory Stewart	Conservative	Penrith and The Border
	David Watts	Labour	St Helens North

Changes 2010–2015

Date	Outgoing Member & Party		Constituency	→	New Member & Party		Constituency	Source
2 November 2010		Emma Reynolds MP (Labour)	Wolverhampton North East	→		Bob Ainsworth MP (Labour)	Coventry North East	Hansard
18 June 2012		David Watts MP (Labour)	St Helens North	→		Mark Hendrick MP (Labour and Co-op)	Preston	Hansard
20 May 2013		Bob Ainsworth MP (Labour)	Coventry North East	→		Sandra Osborne MP (Labour)	Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock	Hansard
30 June 2014		Rory Stewart MP (Conservative)	Penrith and The Border	→		Nadhim Zahawi MP (Conservative)	Stratford-on-Avon	Hansard

Chairs

Chair		Party	Constituency	Term of office		Electors
	Anthony Kershaw	Conservative	Stroud	3 May 1979	1 January 1987	Committee
	David Howell	Conservative	Guildford	1 January 1987	21 March 1997
	Donald Anderson	Labour	Swansea East	16 July 1997	12 July 2005
	Mike Gapes	Labour	Ilford South	18 July 2005	12 April 2010
	Richard Ottaway	Conservative	Croydon South	10 June 2010	30 March 2015	Commons
	Crispin Blunt	Conservative	Reigate	18 June 2015	3 May 2017
	Tom Tugendhat	Conservative	Tonbridge and Malling	12 July 2017	6 September 2022
	Alicia Kearns	Conservative	Rutland and Melton	12 October 2022	Incumbent

Inquiries

The Foreign Affairs Committee carries out many inquiries, and publishes a variety of reports, including an annual Human Rights Report. During its inquiry into the government's decision to invade Iraq, David Kelly famously gave evidence to the committee on 15 July 2003, two days before his death.

In 2015 through 2016 the committee conducted an extensive and highly critical inquiry into the British involvement in the Libyan Civil War. It concluded that the early threat to civilians had been overstated and that the significant Islamist element in the rebel forces had not been recognised, due to an intelligence failure. By summer 2011 the initial limited intervention to protect Libyan civilians had become a policy of regime change. However that new policy did not include proper support and for a new government, leading to a political and economic collapse in Libya and the growth of ISIL in North Africa. The report concluded that the former Prime Minister David Cameron was ultimately responsible for this British policy failure.^[12][13][14]

See also

• Parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom