Deputy Speaker / Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means

Nigel Evans MP

Nigel was a teenager when he joined the Conservative Party - and in his twenties when he was elected as a county councillor.

His ambition to become an MP was finally realised in 1992 when he secured the Lancashire seat of Ribble Valley.

He was appointed Vice-Chair of the Conservative Party between 1999 and 2001, and Shadow Secretary of State for Wales from 2001 to 2003.
As a member of the Panel of Chairs, he was responsible for chairing Public Bill Committees, Delegated Legislation Committees and other General Committees.

He was elected Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons and First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means between 2010 and 2013.

In January 2020, Nigel was elected as the Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means. He is the first openly LGBT politician to be elected to the role and stood on a campaign pledge to promote LGBT issues globally.

In his spare time Nigel enjoys playing squash, listening to classical music and visiting the Swan with Two Necks pub next to his home in the Ribble Valley.

Second Chairman of Ways and Means role

They may take the Chair in the absence of the Chairmen of Ways and Means either in the Commons Chamber or in Westminster Hall, and exercise all the authority of the Speaker.

In Committee of the whole House, the Chair will be taken by a Deputy Chairman in the absence of the Chairman of Ways and Means.

The election rules for the Deputy Speakers state that the Second Chairman of Ways and Means is elected from the opposite side of the House from which the Speaker was elected.

Once elected, the Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means withdraws from an active political role.