 Dr. Julian Lewis Elected Intelligence and Security Chair, Whip Removed in Retaliation (Posted July 15, 2020) Tweet On Monday Jul 13, 2020, the government submitted its long-awaited motion appointing selected members of the House to the Intelligence and Security Committee. The House approved the motion with no objections. According to reports, Chris Grayling was the government's preferred candidate for the chairmanship of the committee, but, having put his name forward, the former chair of the Defence Select Committee Dr. Julian Lewis acceded to the post with the support of the committee's three Labour and one SNP members. Lewis has been a member of the Order Paper's Top 25 since the site's launch and was elevated to the #2 ranking in the June 2020 update. The party's decision to remove the whip may be an inconvenience, but for a long-serving, distinguished Parliamentarian like Lewis the removal of the whip says more about the shortcomings of the party than it says about him. The committee's members: Chris Grayling, Conservative Sir John Hayes, Conservative Stewart Hosie, SNP Dame Diana Johnson, Labour Kevan Jones, Labour Dr. Julian Lewis, Chair, Conservative (for now, Independent) Mark Pritchard, Conservative Theresa Villiers, Conservative Admiral Lord West of Spithead, Labour |
| Tags | Chris Grayling | John Hayes | Stewart Hosie | Diana Johnson | Kevan Jones | Julian Lewis | Mark Pritchard | Theresa Villiers |