Veteran parliamentarian Frank Field has resigned the Labour whip to serve as an independent Labour MP, sparking uncertainty over his role as chair of the Work and Pensions Committee (WPC).
His resignation means his continued chairmanship of the WPC is now uncertain, as select committee chairman positions are allocated between parties proportionately based on the number of MPs they have. A tweet by the WPC - since deleted - said there was "no effect" on the chair's position as he had not resigned from the Labour Party. Royal London director of policy Steve Webb explained there are effectively three paths ahead for the committee, but the situation was "unprecedented". He said either the House of Commons votes to remove Field from the position after an MP submits a mot...
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