Top l-r: Bayo Alaba, Mims Davies, Zöe Franklin, James Frith, Dr Rupa Huq. Bottom l-r: Natasha Irons, Liz Jarvis, Jo Platt, Tom Rutland, Paul Waugh

Top l-r: Bayo Alaba, Mims Davies, Zöe Franklin, James Frith, Dr Rupa Huq. Bottom l-r: Natasha Irons, Liz Jarvis, Jo Platt, Tom Rutland, Paul Waugh

Changing Faces

Full Culture, Media and Sport Committee revealed

Arts Professional
4 min read

The House of Commons has formally announced the members of the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee. 10 MPs will join the chair, Conservative MP CAROLINE DINENAGE, who was re-elected unopposed in September.

Labour has seven MPs on the committee – BAYO ALABA, JAMES FRITH, Dr RUPA HUQ, NATASHA IRONS, JO PLATT, TOM RUTLAND and PAUL WAUGH, while the Liberal Democrats have two – ZÖE FRANKLIN and LIZ JARVIS.

MIMS DAVIES is the only other representative from the Conservative party besides Dinenage, marking a significant reduction in the party’s presence on the committee, which has been chaired by a Conservative since 2005.

Labour CMS committee members

MP for Southend East and Rochford since 2024, Alaba is a former Parachute Regiment soldier, youth mentor and businessman. He is managing director of events consultancy ONIT EVENTS LTD and founder of live art festival StreetFestLive.

Frith has been MP for Bury North since 2024, previously serving in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2019. Before being elected, he was CEO and founder of the social enterprise All Together and was also the lead singer in the rock band Finka and later the Fusileers.

Returning to the committee having been a member from 2022 to 2024, Huq has been MP for Ealing Central and Acton since 2015. Before becoming a politician, she was an academic, author and columnist, specialising in youth culture and pop music.

MP for Croydon East since 2024, Irons was previously a media planning manager at Channel 4 and a councillor for Merton Council.

Platt has been MP for Leigh and Atherton since 2024, having previously represented Leigh from 2017 to 2019. Before 2017, she was a councillor for Wigan Council.

After losing her parliamentary seat in 2019, Platt became manager for Leigh Spinners Mill, which houses over 70 businesses, artists and cultural organisations. She is also a patron of the Leigh Film Society and the Northwest Computer Museum.

Rutland has represented East Worthing and Shoreham in the Commons since 2024, having previously worked as a press officer for the Financial Conduct Authority, Imperial College London and the Prospect trade union, as well as being a councillor for Lambeth Borough Council.

Before becoming MP for Rochdale in 2024 and unseating GEORGE GALLOWAY, Waugh was a journalist. He has been chief political commentator at iNews, executive editor of politics at HuffPost and editor at Politics Home.

Lib Dem and Conservative CMS committee members

Lib Dem MP for Guildford since 2024, Franklin was previously a development officer for the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and a borough councillor for Stoke.

She holds a Masters in Musicology and has previously worked as a music support assistant and manager of East Horsley Village Hall.

Jarvis became MP for Eastleigh in 2024 after a career in journalism. She was editor of Cruise International magazine and held other senior editorial roles with News International, Bauer Media and Burda Magazines.

Davies has been MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield since 2019 and was also MP for Eastleigh from 2015 to 2019. She was previously a councillor in Mid Sussex and Eastleigh and has worked in media, events and communications for the AA, BBC and the police.

Party seat allocations across and within committees are proportionate to the number of MPs elected to the House of Commons at the general election, with the precise number negotiated between the party whips through the Committee of Selection.

Each party has its own internal processes for naming its nominations to fill its committee seats, with individual nominees put forward by political parties agreed upon in the House of Commons following a Committee of Selection meeting.