New Brooms: Ideas for reforming Westminster from Labour's 2017 intake

New Brooms
Published 12 September 2018
Topics Democracy , Labour party

11 Labour MPs elected in 2017 have come together to propose a series of measures to reform parliament. New Brooms, edited by James Frith MP and published by the Fabian Society, puts the experiences and insights of these new MPs at the heart of the debate.

Among the proposals are:

Ellie Reeves proposes changes to the amount of time MPs spend on votes.
James Frith suggests proxy voting for parents with newborn babies.
Preet Kaur Gill proposes introducing job descriptions for MPs.
Laura Pidcock proposes introducing an electronic system to register requests to speak in parliament.
Darren Jones argues Prime Minister’s Questions should be restricted to just the leaders of the political parties and a few questions from MPs.
Alex Norris suggests alternatives to exclusively Anglican prayers at the start of the parliamentary day – for example a reflection led by different MPs in turn.

As well as James Frith, the report’s authors include Preet Kaur Gill, Darren Jones, Sarah Jones, Anna McMorrin, Alex Norris, Laura Pidcock, Luke Pollard, Ellie Reeves, Danielle Rowley, and Alex Sobel.

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How to purchase

Copies are available, priced £9.95, from the Fabian Society. Call 020 7227 4900, email or send a cheque payable to The Fabian Society to 61 Petty France, London, SW1H 9EU.

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