Organisation
The British-American Parliamentary Group is a cross-party, bicameral, inter-parliamentary group.
It acts as an autonomous body within Parliament. It appoints its own staff to carry out its objectives and the Rules of the Group define the limitations on its powers.
The management of the Group is vested in the Executive Committee. The Honorary Secretary and the Joint Honorary Treasurers are nominated by the Executive Committee and ratified each year at the Annual General Meeting as additional members of the Executive Committee with full voting rights. They are primarily responsible for the Group’s activities and the Programme Manager, who is an official of the Committee and not a member, is responsible for the executive work of the Group. The Chair of the Group is the Prime Minister. The two Vice-Chairs from the House of Commons are normally of Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet rank.
Officers and Members of the Executive Committee 2024-2025 | |
Honorary Joint Presidents | The Speaker of the House of Commons The Lord Speaker |
Honorary Vice-Presidents | The Rt. Hon. the Baroness Beckett, GBE The Rt. Hon. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, MP The Rt. Hon. the Lord Falconer of Thoroton, KC The Rt. Hon. the Lord Hague of Richmond The Rt. Hon. the Lord Howard of Lympne, CH, KC The Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt, MP The Rt. Hon. the Lord Jopling, DL The Rt. Hon. Ed Miliband, MP The Rt. Hon. Andrew Mitchell, MP The Rt. Hon. Stephen Flynn, MP The Rt. Hon. Sir Ed Davey, MP |
Honorary Chair | The Prime Minister |
Honorary Vice-Chairs | The Rt. Hon. David Lammy, MP The Rt. Hon. James Cleverly, MP The Rt. Hon. the Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, KT GCMG |
Honorary Secretary | The Rt. Hon. John Spellar, MP |
Honorary Treasurers | Chi Onwurah, MP Sir Christopher Chope, OBE, MP |
As a result of the elections held at the Group’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 30th October 2024, the following members were elected to the Executive Committee, to serve until the Annual General Meeting in July 2025:
Members of the Executive Committee 2024-2025 House of Commons |
|
Government Luke Akehurst, MP Kirith Entwistle, MP Gurinder Singh Josan, MP Nick Smith, MP Derek Twigg, MP |
Opposition Peter Bedford, MP (Conservative) The Rt. Hon. Richard Holden, MP (Conservative) Nigel Huddleston, MP (Conservative) The Rt. Hon. Esther McVey, MP (Conservative) Alan Mak, MP (Conservative) The Rt. Hon. Sir John Whittingdale, OBE, MP (Conservative) |
House of Lords | |
Conservative Party The Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate |
Labour Party The Rt. Hon. the Lord Anderson of Swansea, DL The Rt. Hon. the Baroness Jay of Paddington |
Liberal Democrat The Lord Fox |
Crossbench The Earl of Devon |
Programme Manager: Hannah Mitchell
In Washington D.C., the BAPG is authorized by law, with the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House appointing and authorizing Members of the Senate and House to meet with Parliamentarians for annual conferences and other activities. Funding is obtained each year through appropriations to pay for its expenses.
In the United States Senate, the Chair of the Senate BAPG is Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), who serves as the Chair of the Committee on the Budget as well as a member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Committee on Finance, and the the Committee on the Judiciary. The Republican Vice Chair is Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas), who serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. Senator Boozman also serves on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission). It is the Chair and Vice Chair who will convene the Senate delegations to the Group meetings.
In the United States House of Representatives, the House BAPG delegation is led by co-chairs Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), who serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, and Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colorado), who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
It is the commitment of the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the Senate and House BAPG and other Congressional leaders and their staff which ensures the continuity of these links between the two legislatures.