On 12 November 2008 the House of Commons agreed to establish a new committee, to be chaired by the Speaker and known as the Speaker's Conference.

The Conference has been asked to: "Consider, and make recommendations for rectifying, the disparity between the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large". It may also consider other associated matters.

The Speaker's Conference has until the end of the Parliament to conduct its inquiries.

Current membership

Under the leadership of the Speaker, Rt Hon John Bercow MP, the membership of the Conference is:

Miss Anne Begg MP (Labour, Aberdeen South) (Vice-Chairman)

Ms Diane Abbott MP (Labour, Hackney North & Stoke Newington)

Mr David Blunkett MP (Labour, Sheffield, Brightside)

Angela Browning MP (Conservative, Tiverton & Honiton)

Mr Ronnie Campbell MP (Labour, Blyth Valley)

Mrs Ann Cryer MP (Labour, Keighley)

Mr Parmjit Dhanda MP (Labour, Gloucester)

Andrew George MP (Liberal Democrats, St Ives)

Miss Julie Kirkbride MP (Conservative, Bromsgrove)

Dr William McCrea MP (Democratic Unionist, South Antrim)

David Maclean MP (Conservative, Penrith & The Border)

Fiona Mactaggart MP (Labour, Slough)

Mr Khalid Mahmood MP (Labour, Birmingham, Perry Barr)

Anne Main MP (Conservative, St Albans)

Jo Swinson MP (Liberal Democrat, East Dunbartonshire)

Mrs Betty Williams MP (Labour, Conwy)

Publication

The Reports and evidence of the Speaker's Conference are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/speakersconference.

A list of Reports of the Conference in the present Parliament is at the back of this volume.

Conference staff

The current staff of the Conference are Mrs Elizabeth Hunt (Joint Secretary), Mr Paul Zimmermann (Joint Secretary), Mr Philip Aylett (Adviser), Ms Laura Kibby (Media Officer), Miss Emma Sawyer (Senior Committee Assistant) and Mr Ian Blair (Committee Assistant).

Specialist Advisers

The following were appointed as Specialist Advisers to the Conference: Professor Sarah Childs (University of Bristol), Lorraine Gradwell MBE (Chief Executive, Breakthrough UK), Professor Shamit Saggar (University of Sussex) and Professor Paul Whiteley (University of Essex).

Contacts

All correspondence should be addressed to the Joint Secretaries of the Speaker's Conference, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 0654; the Conference's email address is spconference@parliament.uk.