Modernisation Committee

In the House of Commons, a minister has expressed surprise that the Leader of the House did not address this motion. The minister believes that a Modernisation Committee is clearly needed, and there is a significant amount of work for the committee to undertake, including examining voting procedures and parliamentary hours. The minister then posed a question to the Leader of the House. There is a group of five newly elected, independent members of Parliament, and the minister believes that the knowledge and experience they bring, having been elected through unconventional means rather than through party machinery, could be highly valuable to the work of the Modernisation Committee. The minister is not seeking a position on the committee but suggests that the format should be changed to include representatives from all groups within the House. This, the minister argues, would help the committee operate in a more modern and efficient manner, and ensure that parliamentary time is used more effectively, such as by introducing electronic voting instead of the current practice of spending hours going through the Division Lobby. The minister's statement highlights the desire for the Modernisation Committee to be representative of the diverse perspectives within the House of Commons, in order to drive forward necessary reforms and modernisation of parliamentary procedures.