New chairman for select committee

Former shadow minister Iain Wright appointed head of the Commons committee on business, innovation and skills.

Iain Wright, Labour MP for Hartlepool (pictured right), was today appointed chairman of the Commons committee on business, innovation and skills.

Wright, who was elected to Parliament following Peter Mandelson’s resignation in 2004, was initially a junior minister in the Department of Children, Schools and Families, where he worked on 14-19 reform and apprenticeships. Following the 2010 general election, he became a shadow education minister then shadow minister for competitiveness and enterprise and later industry. He has also been a member of the public accounts and modernisation standing committees. Wright began his career as a chartered accountant.