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Foreign Affairs Select Committee

UK House of Commons 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.

Membership

Membership of the committee is as follows:

Member	Constituency
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Emily Thornberry MP (Chair)	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Fleur Anderson MP	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Alex Ballinger MP	Labour
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Aphra Brandreth MP	Conservative
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Phil Brickell MP	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Dan Carden MP	Labour
Liberal Democrats (UK)}}	Richard Foord MP	Liberal Democrats
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Uma Kumaran MP	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Abtisam Mohamed MP	Labour
Liberal Democrats (UK)}}	Edward Morello MP	Liberal Democrats
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	John Whittingdale MP	Conservative

Changes since 2024

Date	Outgoing Member
& Party	Constituency	→	New Member
& Party	Constituency	Source
16 December 2024	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Claire Hazelgrove MP (Labour)	Filton and Bradley Stoke	→	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Alex Ballinger MP (Labour)
Matthew Patrick MP (Labour)	Wirral West	Phil Brickell MP (Labour)	Bolton West
nowrap	27 October 2025	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Blair McDougall MP (Labour)	East Renfrewshire	→	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Fleur Anderson MP (Labour)

2019-2024 Parliament

The chair was elected on 29 January 2020, with the members of the committee being announced on 2 March 2020. 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	Constituency
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Tom Tugendhat (Chair)	Conservative
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Chris Bryant	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Chris Elmore	Labour
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Alicia Kearns	Conservative
Scottish National Party}}"	Stewart McDonald	Scottish National Party
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Ian Murray	Labour
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Andrew Rosindell	Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Bob Seely	Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Henry Smith	Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Royston Smith	Conservative
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Graham Stringer	Labour

Changes 2019-2024

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

2017–2019 Parliament

The chair was elected on 12 July 2017, with the members of the committee being announced on 11 September 2017.

Member	Constituency
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Tom Tugendhat (Chair)	Conservative
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Ian Austin	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Chris Bryant	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Ann Clwyd	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Mike Gapes	Labour
Scottish National Party}}"	Stephen Gethins	Scottish National Party
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Nus Ghani	Conservative
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Ian Murray	Labour
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Andrew Rosindell	Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Royston Smith	Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Nadhim Zahawi	Conservative

Changes 2017–2019

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

2015–2017 Parliament

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

Member	Constituency
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Crispin Blunt (Chair)	Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	John Baron	Conservative
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Ann Clwyd	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Mike Gapes	Labour
Scottish National Party}}"	Stephen Gethins	Scottish National Party
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Mark Hendrick	Labour and Co-op
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Adam Holloway	Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Daniel Kawczynski	Conservative
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Yasmin Qureshi	Labour
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Andrew Rosindell	Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Nadhim Zahawi	Conservative

Changes 2015–2017

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

2010–2015 Parliament

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

Member	Constituency
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Richard Ottaway (Chair)	Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	John Baron	Conservative
Liberal Democrats (UK)}}"	Menzies Campbell	Liberal Democrats
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Ann Clwyd	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Mike Gapes	Labour
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Emma Reynolds	Labour
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Andrew Rosindell	Conservative
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Frank Roy	Labour
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	John Stanley	Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Rory Stewart	Conservative
Labour Party (UK)}}"	David Watts	Labour

Changes 2010–2015

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

Chairs

Chair	Constituency	Term of office	Electors
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Anthony Kershaw	Conservative	Stroud	3 May 1979
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	David Howell	Conservative	Guildford	1 January 1987
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Donald Anderson	Labour	Swansea East	16 July 1997
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Mike Gapes	Labour	Ilford South	18 July 2005
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Richard Ottaway	Conservative	Croydon South	10 June 2010
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Crispin Blunt	Conservative	Reigate	18 June 2015
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Tom Tugendhat	Conservative	Tonbridge and Malling	12 July 2017
Conservative Party (UK)}}"	Alicia Kearns	Conservative	Rutland and Melton	12 October 2022
Labour Party (UK)}}"	Emily Thornberry	Labour	Islington South and Finsbury	11 September 2024

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 and 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.

References

"Foreign Affairs Committee". UK Parliament.
. (29 October 2024). ["Foreign Affairs Committee membership appointed"](https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/78/foreign-affairs-committee/news/203483/foreign-affairs-committee-membership-appointed/). *Foreign Affairs Committee*.
(29 January 2020). "Speaker’s Statement: Select Committee Chairs".
(2 March 2020). "Committees".
(12 July 2017). "Speaker’s Statement: Select Committee Chairs".
(11 September 2017). "Business without Debate".
(19 March 2019). "Foreign Affairs Committee".
(18 June 2015). "Speaker’s Statement".
(8 July 2015). "Business without Debate".
(10 June 2010). "Speaker’s Statement".
(12 July 2010). "Committees".
(14 September 2016). "MPs attack Cameron over Libya 'collapse'". BBC News.
Patrick Wintour. (14 September 2016). "MPs deliver damning verdict on Cameron's Libya intervention". The Guardian.
(6 September 2016). "Libya: Examination of intervention and collapse and the UK's future policy options". UK Parliament.

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