Patricia Ferguson: I've got the best job in Westminster

Before writing this article, I thought that I should read what my predecessor, Pete Wishart MP, said last year when he demitted office. In an excellent contribution, Pete claimed that chairing the Scottish Affairs Committee was the “best job in Westminster”.

Pete and I come from different political perspectives, but I hope we share a love of Scotland and a determination to ensure parliament delivers for the people of Scotland and taxpayers’ money is spent wisely.

I was elected as an MP in July 2024 and was encouraged by a number of colleagues to consider putting my name forward for chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee. After some consideration, I decided to stand. However, I had not realised that there would be a full-blown election campaign with leaflets and lobbying – it was a bit like the general election all over again. That didn’t feel right to me. Of course, in a situation like this, you want to talk to colleagues and explain why you are standing and how you see the committee operating but sending out multiple emails, WhatsApp messages, videos and material seemed to me both undignified and more importantly, a waste of time. I am pleased to note that the Procedure Committee is considering this process and whether or not it is appropriate.

Come polling day, I had resigned myself to losing the election only to hear the Speaker announce that the election for the chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee would be going to a recount. The following day I was, to my surprise, declared as chair of the committee.

The various parties at Westminster are allocated seats on committees based on their parliamentary strength and it quickly became apparent that the SNP would not meet the threshold. I was pleased, therefore, when the Labour Party decided to give up a place on the Scottish Affairs Committee to allow the SNP to participate. The SNP may have only nine MPs, but they are the party of government in Scotland, so Labour’s decision was the right one.

More than half of Westminster’s MPs were elected for the first time in 2024, and the proportion is even greater in Scotland. The Scottish Affairs Committee as elected last September/October consisted of eleven members, ten of us first-time MPs. Although one of our members had served as an MP previously, he had never been on a select committee before.

Although we are all new to Westminster, I like to think that our committee has begun to make its mark at Westminster and beyond. We have been looking at a number of issues that are important to Scotland and have published a report about the financing of the Scottish Government in which we called for greater transparency from both governments. Our two latest reports, about the space industry and the safer drug consumption room operating in Glasgow, were published in September. We are also halfway through a major inquiry into GB Energy and just transition. We have also held one-off sessions about veterans’ affairs in Scotland and the universal postal service obligation in rural areas.

If you had told me last year that I would develop a keen interest in the space industry, I would have laughed. But our inquiry, following on from the excellent work done by our predecessor committee, has been a revelation and helped us to understand the value of the commercial space sector and its importance to Scotland. We are all looking forward with anticipation to the first launch from the SaxaVord Spaceport in the autumn.

Our work looking at the safer drug consumption room has been both interesting and challenging. We have looked at international comparators and discussed the concept with experts in the field, with Scottish and UK Government ministers and with the lord advocate.

In the course of the last year, we have visited Lewis, Harris and Shetland. We have journeyed along both the east and west coasts of Scotland. Many of our visits have been to look at issues concerning energy and the just transition we all want to see, but wherever we go we try to meet with local people to hear about the issues that concern them most and to help to raise them through our work. Some of the new inquiries we will undertake this year come from the problems people have raised with us in these discussions. It is important to all of us that we try to consider issues which affect rural and island communities as well as Scotland’s cities and towns.

The committee regularly hears from the Secretary of State for Scotland and also from Kirsty McNeill MP, the Under Secretary of State at the Scotland Office, and their officials. Both ministers have been very generous with their time and have welcomed the scrutiny our committee undertakes regarding their work.

Select committee chairs are all members of the Liaison Committee. That committee tries to iron out any procedural issues that may arise in or between committees, but it also takes evidence from the prime minister several times a year. I have had two opportunities to do just that and used my time to ask about the government’s understanding of the importance of the space sector and about the availability of jobs for workers affected by the closure of the Grangemouth refinery.

As I alluded to earlier, the Scottish Affairs Committee is made up of a cross-party group of MPs. We don’t always agree on everything we discuss or take evidence on, but I think we work well together and are always respectful of each other’s views. As chair, I am grateful to all the members for their interest in the committee’s work and for their dedication in ensuring that what we do is meaningful.

Reflecting again on Pete Wishart’s previous comments, was he right to say that chairing the Scottish Affairs Committee is the best job at Westminster? I am certain he was – not least because our work ranges across a broad spectrum of policy areas and issues, and we can consider almost anything that is relevant to Scotland and its people.

I look forward to new inquiries, many more witnesses and learning about issues that surprise me in the coming year.