The Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, or simply the Speaker's Committee, is a body created under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000

Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000

The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets out how political parties, elections and referendums are to be regulated in the United Kingdom...

 to scrutinise the Electoral Commission

Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)

The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections...

. Through the Committee's members, the Commission is able to field questions in the House of Commons in a manner similar to the way ministers do.

Composition

The Committee comprises nine MPs: the Speaker of the House of Commons

Speaker of the British House of Commons

The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...

 (who also serves as its chair), the Lord President of the Council

Lord President of the Council

The Lord President of the Council is the fourth of the Great Officers of State of the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord High Treasurer and above the Lord Privy Seal. The Lord President usually attends each meeting of the Privy Council, presenting business for the monarch's approval...

, the Chair of the select committee responsible for electoral issues,the minister responsible for local government, and five others nominated by the Speaker who are not Ministers of the Crown

Minister of the Crown

Minister of the Crown is the formal constitutional term used in the Commonwealth realms to describe a minister to the reigning sovereign. The term indicates that the minister serves at His/Her Majesty's pleasure, and advises the monarch, or viceroy, on how to exercise the Crown prerogatives...

. As of 11 October 2010, the members of the Committee are as follows:

• John Bercow
  John Bercow
  John Simon Bercow is a British politician who has been the Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom since June 2009. Prior to his election to Speaker he was a member of the Conservative party....
  
  , ex officio as Speaker of the House of Commons (Chair)
• Nick Clegg
  Nick Clegg
  Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
  
   (Liberal Democrat), ex officio as Lord President of the Council
• Graham Allen
  Graham Allen
  Graham William Allen is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Nottingham North since 1987.-Early life:...
  
   (Labour), ex officio as Chair of the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee
  Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee
  The Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created on 7 June 2010.-Remit:...
  
  
• Grant Shapps
  Grant Shapps
  Grant V Shapps MP is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Welwyn Hatfield in the United Kingdom and Minister of State for Housing and Planning...
  
   (Conservative), appointed by the Prime Minister (Minister for Housing and Local Government)
• Gerald Kaufman
  Gerald Kaufman
  Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1970, first for Manchester Ardwick, and then subsequently for Manchester Gorton...
  
   (Labour)
• Gary Streeter
  Gary Streeter
  Gary Nicholas Streeter is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. From 1997 he was Member of Parliament for South West Devon, having previously been the Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton between 1992 and 1997...
  
   (Conservative)
• Sam Gyimah
  Sam Gyimah
  Samuel Phillip Gyimah is a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for East Surrey at the 2010 general election.-Education:...
  
   (Conservative)
• Naomi Long (Alliance)
• Bridget Phillipson
  Bridget Phillipson
  Bridget Maeve Phillipson is a British Labour Party politician who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Houghton and Sunderland South.- Early life :...
  
  (Labour)