Caroline Nokes Says Parliament Needs A Behaviour "Reset" As She Bids To Become Deputy Speaker
2 min read
“I want to be here to stand up for Parliament and parliamentarians,” Caroline Nokes pitches her stall in the race for deputy speaker.
The Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North has been chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee for four years, on the Speaker’s panel of chairs since 2019 and in the Commons for the past 14 years.
“I think I’ve demonstrated over the course that I’m pretty resilient and prepared to speak out,” she says. “I’ve got a track record of working cross-party, and I think that’s what you need in the chair: people who are going to be both fair and a bit independent-minded.”
Nokes wants to guide new faces in “the weird and wonderful practices of the Chamber” and foster a Parliament that sees backbench successes like that of Diana Johnson on infected blood or Cherilyn Mackrory on baby loss.
“It is about making sure backbenchers get the urgent questions they’re seeking and that time is used to the best advantage of parliamentarians,” she says.
Improving the culture of Westminster is a priority. “With 41 per cent of Parliament being women this time, that gives us an opportunity to address some of the thorny cultural issues.”
Nokes would like MPs’ bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct training to be mandatory and have the team of speakers work with party whips to create an “absolutely explicit behavioural code and a method of dealing with infringement”.
She adds: “We need to be determined not to repeat 'Pestminster; behaviours that dogged the last parliament. That’s our big challenge as a new Parliament with lots of new members; we have to make sure that there is a reset moment.”
Nokes assumes that on Restoration and Renewal MPs will pursue the full decant option and she wants to see Parliament “made fully accessible for disabled people as the current state is not acceptable”.
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