Hilary Term 2010

This House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government

• Eric Pickles MP is Shadow Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. Unlike many Conservatives, he is pro-European, and supported the Maastricht Treaty. Campaign Manager for the Crewe & Nantwich By-Election in May, he is regarded as one of the party’s best electoral strategists.
  
• Lord McNally served as a political advisor to Foreign Secretary James Callaghan, and became head of the Prime Minister’s political office when Callaghan succeeded Wilson. Becoming a Labour MP in 1979, he defected 2 years later to the new SDP, and is the current leader of the Liberal Democrats in the Lords and spokesman for Constitutional Affairs.
• The Rt Hon. Oliver Letwin MP is Head of the Conservative Party Policy Review Unit, is a former Shadow Cabinet Minister and a major influence on Conservative politics. He once chased a pair of thieves down the road in his dressing-gown and will surely approach this debate with the same dogged determination and snappy dress-sense.

• Rt Hon. John Denham MP started his political career as a Trotskyist. He resigned as a Minister of State over the Iraq War, but was welcomed back to the Cabinet under Gordon Brown, as Minister for Innovation, Universities, and Skills.
• Rt Hon Paul Murphy MP, having been a member of the Labour Party since he was 15, was made Secretary of State for Wales in 2008, and has been given responsibility for overseeing the British-Irish Council. He was awarded the Sacred Order of Saint George for helping to promote peace in Northern Ireland.
• Helen Goodman MP, Deputy Leader of the Commons, is responsible for organising and arranging business in the House.  She regularly represents the Government in Commons debates and plays a key role in modernising and increasing the Government’s powers.