Jesse elected to Treasury Select Committee

Jesse Norman, the MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, has been elected by his fellow MPs to the Treasury Select Committee, it was announced last week.

The Treasury Committee is traditionally regarded as one of the most influential Select Committees in the House of Commons. Its mandate is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of HM Treasury, HM Revenue & Customs, and associated public bodies, including the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority.

Given the recent financial and economic crisis, the new financial regulatory system and the budget deficit, the committee's role is expected to be especially important in the current parliament.

Commenting, Jesse said: "It is an honour to be chosen for the Treasury Select Committee, and all the more so by my fellow backbench MPs in the first-ever committee elections.

"I consulted widely with local people before putting my name forward. The feeling was that it was important for the county to have a representative who is in a position to scrutinise these important long-term financial decisions.

"I certainly hope to use it as a platform to address the serious issue of underfunding of rural areas such as our own."