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On this page you can find more information about our annual weekend, including a PDF version of the conference programme.


The Chatham House Rule

The SPG Annual Weekend operates under the Chatham House Rule by default. Where this rule may not apply, the chair of the respective panel session will make this clear. For those unfamiliar with the specifics of the Chatham House Rule, this means that “participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.” The Chatham House Rule always applies to the Q&A parts of any SPG event.

** Please note that the Chatham House Rule also applies to Twitter**


Friday 6th January

SessionTimeDescription
Welcome12:45-13:00Tom Healey, SPG Chair and Clerk of Bills, House of Commons

Professor Cristina Leston Bandeira, SPG Deputy Chair and Professor of Politics, University of Leeds
Monitoring Diversity in Parliaments: Members, staff and stakeholders13:00-14:30A panel discussion exploring the benefits and challenges of monitoring diversity within parliaments, through a range of perspectives focusing on Members, staff and wider stakeholders.

Chair: Professor Cristina Leston Bandeira, SPG Deputy Chair and Professor of Politics, University of Leeds (online)

Zoe Backhouse, Head of Petitions Engagement, House of Commons (online)

Helen Finlayson, Health and Social Care Committee, Senedd Cymru (online)

Rebecca Lees, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, House of Commons (online)

Margaret McKinnon, Women & Equalities Committee, House of Commons
Break14:30-14:45Opportunity to view posters and a chance to catch up with group members. Or take some time away from the screen if you are joining us virtually.
Parliaments in Conflict: political legitimacy and parliamentary norms14:45-16:15Chair: Aileen Walker

Lord Purvis of Tweed, House of Lords (online)

Greg Power, Global Partners Governance (online)

Dr Sarah Whitmore, Oxford Brookes University
Coffee/Refreshment Break16:15-16:45Opportunity to view posters and a chance to catch up with group members. Or take some time away from the screen if you are joining us virtually.
Restoration & Renewal of the Palace of Westminster16:45-17:45The Panel will consider developments in the Restoration & Renewal Programme since the passage of the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019

Chair: Dr Hannah White OBE, Director of the Institute for Government

Claire Maugham, former Communications Director, Restoration & Renewal Sponsor Body (online)

Dr Alexandra Meakin, University of Leeds (online)

Matthew Hamlyn CBE, Strategic Director, Chamber Business Team, House of Commons (online)
Break17:45-18:00Opportunity to view posters and a chance to catch up with group members. Or take some time away from the screen if you are joining us virtually.
Wheeler-Booth Memorial Lecture18:00-19:00Kathryn Stone OBE, outgoing Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

Chair: Professor the Lord Norton of Louth, Professor of Government, University of Hull

Buffet Dinner19:15
After-dinner Quiz20:45Join us for our conference quiz.

Remote participants will be able to join the quiz on Zoom but online teams will have to make their own
arrangements to communicate among themselves

Saturday 7th January

SessionTimePanellists

Annual General Meeting
09:00-10:00SPG Executive Members

Remembering Sir David Butler
10:00-10:15
Coffee/Refreshment break10:15-10:45Opportunity to view posters exhibition and a chance to catch up with group members. Or take some time away from the screen if you are joining us virtually.
Operation Marquee10:45-12:00Neil Baverstock, Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod, House of Lords,

in conversation with Dr Emmeline Ledgerwood, History of Parliament.
Lunch break12:00-12:45
Informal break-out meetings12:45-13:30Opportunity for members to organise their own meetings (and view posters)

Contribution from Charles Feldman, Canadian Study of Parliament Group
The EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly13:30-14:30The PPA brings together members of the UK Parliament and the European Parliament to exchange views on implementation and operation of the 2021 Trade and Co-operation Agreement. It held its first two meetings in 2022. The Panel will reflect on the early experience of the Assembly and possible future developments in EU–UK interparliamentary relations.

Chair: Tom Healey, SPG Chair and Clerk of Bills, House of Commons

Rt Hon Sir Oliver Heald KC MP, Leader of the UK Delegation to the Assembly (online)

Nathalie Loiseau MEP, Leader of the European Parliament Delegation to the Assembly (online)

Dr Lynn Gardner, Head of the Interparliamentary Relations Office, House of Commons

Adam Isaacs, Head of Europe Unit: Enlargement, Western Europe and Northern Cooperation, European Parliament
Coffee/Refreshment break14:30-14:45Opportunity to view posters exhibition and a chance to catch up with group members. Or take some time away from the screen if you are joining us virtually.
Parliamentary scrutiny of inter-government relations14:45-16:15Chair: Gareth Williams, Welsh Parliament

Professor Nicola McEwen, Centre on Constitutional Change, University of Edinburgh (online)

Hedydd Phylip, Cardiff University

Philip Rycroft, former Head of UK Governance Group, Cabinet Office (online)

Jess Sargeant, Institute for Government

The new report on interparliamentary relations, published by Sir Paul Silk and Paul Evans is available here.