Nicky Morgan, the former cabinet minister and prominent advocate of a soft Brexit, has been elected chair of the influential Treasury select committee, defeating arch-Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg. The vote, conducted by MPs across all parties, saw Morgan secure 290 votes against Rees-Mogg's 226, positioning her as a key figure in scrutinising the government's economic policy and Brexit plans.
Morgan, who served as education secretary and Treasury minister, had particular backing from Labour MPs seeking to oppose Prime Minister Theresa May's hardline Brexit strategy, which includes leaving the single market and customs union. Since being sacked by May last year, Morgan has been a vocal critic of a hard Brexit, warning of its economic dangers. She said the role was crucial to "forge a wide consensus on Brexit and for parliament to question ministers on their decisions."
Rees-Mogg, who had pledged to set aside his strong Brexit views to achieve consensus, conceded defeat. Morgan becomes the first woman to chair the Treasury committee, which is one of several high-profile committees now led by women, including home affairs, public accounts, health, and business. The committee chairs are hotly contested as they provide powerful scrutiny roles, enabling backbench MPs to hold the government to account.
In other committee elections, Tom Tugendhat unseated Crispin Blunt as chair of the foreign affairs committee, while Julian Lewis retained the defence committee chair against Johnny Mercer. Neil Parish kept the environment committee role, and Robert Halfon took over the education committee. New Labour chairs include Rachel Reeves for business, energy and industrial strategy, and Lilian Greenwood for transport. Norman Lamb became the only new Liberal Democrat chair, leading the science and technology committee.
