Chairman of Ways and Means

In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of Ways and Means is a senior member of the House of Commons who acts as one of the Speaker's three deputies. The current holder is Nusrat Ghani, following her election to the position on 23 July 2024.

History and functions The Chairman of Ways and Means is the principal Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, presiding over the House in the Speaker's absence. The chairman also takes the chair of the Committee of the Whole House. The chairman's title is derived from their role in the former Committee of Ways and Means, which was abolished in 1967.

The chairman's connection with the financial responsibilities of this committee gave rise to the tradition that the chairman presides over the annual budget debate, although there is no reason why the Speaker cannot do so if he or she chooses. The chairman is always a senior Member of the House, often with experience of chairing standing committees, and sometimes also of being a government minister.

The deputy chairmen also deputise for the Speaker in the chair or by chairing committees of the Whole House, although the chairman has certain additional and distinct responsibilities (for instance, in relation to private bills and overseeing the Panel of Committee Chairs).

The chairman is also chair of the Court of Referees, established in 1865.

Once elected, both the Chairman of Ways and Means and the deputy chairmen follow the same tradition of neither speaking nor voting on any matter before the House (unless a casting vote is required). Unlike the Speaker, though, they remain members of their political party and campaign in general elections as party politicians.

Election Before 2010, the chairman was appointed by the Leader of the House or another government minister, Section 2, subsection 5: "The Chairman of Ways and Means himself was formerly appointed by Leader of the House or a Minister of the Crown when the House first resolved itself into a Committee of Supply following the meeting of each new Parliament." with the first and second deputy chairmen being appointed by the House of Commons from 1902 and 1971 respectively, but in November 2009, a report was published by the Procedure Committee which made the chairman, first deputy and second deputy chairmen all elected which was approved in January 2010, with the election process further detailed in a report published by the Procedure Committee in February 2010 and approved the following month.

This election takes place after the election of the Speaker, and uses the Single Transferable Vote voting system, with the first candidate reaching the quota being elected as the chairman, the second candidate reaching the quota being elected as first deputy chairman and the third candidate reaching the quota being elected as second deputy chairman, but there are some rules on who can be elected.

The chairman and second deputy chairman are elected from the opposite side of the House to the (former) party of the Speaker, while the first deputy chairman comes from the same side, which can lead to some situations where only the chairman and second deputy chairman are actually elected and the first deputy chairman is effectively appointed to the role if there was only one candidate in the election from the (former) party of the Speaker. This is because, in this situation, the candidate from the (former) party of the Speaker would automatically be elected to be the first deputy chairman without appearing on the ballot paper.

There is usually a gap between the election of the Speaker and the election of the chairman and deputy chairmen of anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, which has led to the House of Commons nominating members to temporarily serve in these roles until elections could be held. A report from the Procedure Committee published in October 2011 recommended that a new standing order be created to give the Speaker the power to appoint a temporary chairman and temporary deputy chairmen to serve between the start of a Parliament and the election of these positions, but as of the present day, this standing order has not been created, which has led to the House agreeing to appoint temporary chairman and deputy chairmen in various different ways.

For example, after the 2010 general election, the House agreed on 25 May that the Speaker could nominate people to serve as temporary chairman and deputy chairmen, while after the 2015 general election, the process was broadly the same, with the only difference being that the House agreed to the appointment of temporary chairman and deputy chairmen on 26 March, which is before the general election had taken place. After the 2017 and 2019 general elections, the Leader of the House put forward a motion on the day of the Queen's Speech which provided for the appointment of temporary chairman and deputy chairmen. The major difference between these is that, after the 2017 election, the motion put forward then was for the Speaker to nominate temporary chairman and deputy chairmen (like what had happened in 2010 and 2015), but after the 2019 election, the motion put forward was to itself appoint the temporary chairman and deputy chairmen.

The Speaker (or the Leader of the House in 2019) didn't necessarily have to appoint people to fill all the roles. In fact, after every election where the chairmen and deputy chairmen were elected except 2019, the Speaker only appointed two people as Deputy Speakers, not as chairmen and deputy chairmen. Only in 2019 were there people appointed to all three roles and as chairmen and deputy chairmen.

Because the Speaker, chairman and deputy chairmen do not vote (except to break a tie), this effectively pairs the occupants of the chair (their presumed support for their side cancelling each other out), which means no party loses a voting advantage on account of having one of the four drawn from its ranks.

List of Chairmen of Ways and Means since 1826 Bold type and light grey colour indicate a chairman who was later elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons.

Light green colour indicates a former deputy chairman.

From Until NameParty Constituency Retirement honour 1826 1831 Sir Alexander Grant, Bt Conservative Aldborough, Westbury None 1831 1841 Ralph Bernal Whig Rochester None 1841 1847 Thomas Greene Conservative Lancaster None 1847 1852 Ralph Bernal Whig Rochester None 1852 1853 John Wilson-Patten Conservative North Lancashire Baron Winmarleigh (1874) 1853 1855 Hon. Edward Pleydell-Bouverie Whig Kilmarnock Burghs None 1855 1859 Henry FitzRoy Conservative Lewes None 1859 1864 William Nathaniel Massey Liberal Salford None 1865 1872 John George Dodson Liberal East Sussex Baron Monk Bretton (1884) 1872 1874 John Bonham Carter Liberal Winchester None 1874 1880 Henry Cecil Raikes Conservative Chester None 1880 1883 Lyon Playfair Liberal Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities Baron Playfair (1892) 1883 1885 Sir Arthur Otway, Bt Liberal Rochester None 1886 1893 Leonard Courtney Liberal Bodmin Baron Courtney of Penwith (1906) 1893 1895 John William Mellor Liberal Sowerby None 1895 1905 James Lowther Conservative Penrith Viscount Ullswater (1921) 1905 1906 Sir John Lawson, Bt Conservative Thirsk and Malton Baronetcy (1905) 1906 1911 Alfred Emmott Liberal Oldham Baron Emmott (1911) 1911 1921 John Henry Whitley Liberal Halifax None 1921 1924 James Hope Conservative Sheffield Central Baron Rankeillour (1932) Feb 1924 Oct 1924 Robert Young Labour Newton Knighthood (1931) 1924 1929 James Hope Conservative Sheffield Central Baron Rankeillour (1932) 1929 1931 Robert Young Labour Newton Knighthood (1931) 1931 1943 Dennis Herbert Conservative Watford Baron Hemingford (1943) Jan 1943 Mar 1943 Douglas Clifton Brown Conservative Hexham Viscount Ruffside (1951) 1943 May 1945 James Milner Labour Leeds South East Baron Milner of Leeds (1951) May 1945 Aug 1945 Charles Williams Conservative Torquay None Aug 1945 1951 James Milner Labour Leeds South East Baron Milner of Leeds (1951) 1951 1959 Sir Charles MacAndrew Unionist Bute and Northern Ayrshire Baron MacAndrew (1959) 1959 1962 Gordon Touche Conservative Dorking Baronetcy (1962) 1962 1964 Sir William Anstruther-Gray Unionist Berwick and East Lothian Baron Kilmany (1966) for Life 1964 1965 Horace King Labour Southampton Itchen Baron Maybray-King (1971) for Life 1965 1966 Sir Samuel Storey, Bt Conservative Stretford Baron Buckton (1966) for Life 1966 1968 Sir Eric Fletcher Labour Islington East Baron Fletcher (1970) for Life 1968 1970 Sydney Irving Labour Dartford Baron Irving of Dartford (1979) for Life 1970 1974 Sir Robert Grant-Ferris Conservative Nantwich Baron Harvington (1974) for Life 1974 1976 George Thomas Labour Cardiff West Viscount Tonypandy (1983) 1976 1979 Oscar Murton Conservative Poole Baron Murton of Lindisfarne (1979) for Life 1979 1983 Bernard Weatherill Conservative Croydon North East Baron Weatherill (1992) for Life 1983 1992 Harold Walker Labour Doncaster Central Baron Walker of Doncaster (1997) for Life 1992 1997 Michael Morris Conservative Northampton South Baron Naseby (1997) for Life 1997 2010 Sir Alan Haselhurst Conservative Saffron Walden Baron Haselhurst (2018) for Life 2010 2019 Sir Lindsay Hoyle Labour Chorley Elected as Speaker 2020 2024 Dame Eleanor Laing Conservative Epping Forest Baroness Laing of Elderslie (2024) for Life 2024 Incumbent Nus Ghani Conservative Sussex Weald Incumbent

List of Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means (1902–1971) Bold type and light grey colour indicate a deputy chairman who was later elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons.

Light blue colour indicates a deputy chairman who was promoted to chairman. From Until NameParty Constituency Retirement honour 1902 1905 Arthur Frederick Jeffreys Conservative Basingstoke None 1905 1906 Laurence Hardy Conservative Ashford None 1906 1910 James Caldwell Liberal Mid Lanarkshire None 1910 1911 John Henry Whitley Liberal Halifax None 1911 1918 Sir Donald Maclean Liberal Peebles and Selkirk Knighthood (1917) 1919 1923 Sir Edwin Cornwall, Bt Liberal Bethnal Green North-East Baronetcy (1918) Feb 1924 Oct 1924 Cyril Entwistle Liberal Kingston upon Hull South West None Dec 1924 1928 Edward FitzRoy Conservative Daventry None 1928 1929 Dennis Herbert Conservative Watford Baron Hemingford (1943) 1929 1931 Herbert Dunnico Labour Consett Knighthood (1938) 1931 1938 Robert Bourne Conservative Oxford None 1938 1943 Douglas Clifton Brown Conservative Hexham Viscount Ruffside (1951) Jan 1943 Mar 1943 James Milner Labour Leeds South East Baron Milner of Leeds (1951) 1943 May 1945 Charles Williams Conservative Torquay None May 1945 Aug 1945 Sir Charles MacAndrew Unionist Bute and Northern Ayrshire Baron MacAndrew (1959) Aug 1945 1948 Hubert Beaumont Labour Batley and Morley None 1948 1950 Frank Bowles Labour Nuneaton Baron Bowles (1964) for Life 1950 1951 Sir Charles MacAndrew Unionist Bute and Northern Ayrshire Baron MacAndrew (1959) 1951 1956 Rhys Hopkin Morris Liberal Carmarthen Knighthood (1956) 1956 1959 Gordon Touche Conservative Dorking Baronetcy (1962) 1959 1962 Sir William Anstruther-Gray Unionist Berwick and East Lothian Baron Kilmany (1966) for Life 1962 1964 Sir Robert Grimston, Bt Conservative Westbury Baron Grimston of Westbury (1964) 1964 1965 Sir Samuel Storey, Bt Conservative Stretford Baron Buckton (1966) for Life 1965 1966 Roderic Bowen Liberal Ceredigion None 1966 1968 Sydney Irving Labour Dartford Baron Irving of Dartford (1979) for Life 1968 1970 Harry Gourlay Labour Kirkcaldy None

List of First Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means (since 1971) Bold type and light grey colour indicate a first deputy chairman who was later elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons.

Light blue colour indicates where a first deputy chairman was promoted to chairman.

Light green colour indicates where a second deputy chairman was promoted to first deputy chairman.