It follows the announcement this week (January 20) of the Labour MP’s intention to vacate his seat in the House of Commons in order to run in the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections, for which he was chosen as a candidate last month.
This will prompt a by-election – likely to take place in May – in his South Wales constituency of Ogmore, which he has represented since 2002.
Election
Details of the timetable for the election process to replace him as EAC chair, meanwhile, will be announced by the House of Common’s Speaker in due course. Mr Irranca-Davies will officially step down as EAC chair on Monday (January 25).
Only Labour MPs can currently stand for the position, as this party was allocated the chair position aftere the 2015 General Election. Candidates require 15 signatures from their own party to be nominated, but is not yet known which Labour MPs will be seeking nomination.
Mr Irranca-Davies said he was “sad” to be leaving the role which had been an “honour” to be elected to back in June 2015, when he beat off competition from Labour MP Alan Whitehead and shadow environment minister Barry Gardiner (see letsrecycle.com story).
He claimed the Committee had made a “major impact” during his brief time as Chair on issues such as “the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank and the environmental impact of Heathrow expansion”, but that the UK still faced a number of “pressing challenges” on the environment.
During the last parliament the EAC was a vocal opponent of the proposed exemptions in the government’s carrier bag levy, as well as on waste policy.
Stepping down
On stepping down, the Labour MP commented: “The government’s recent policy reversals on energy and climate change need careful scrutiny. And we are still not doing enough to protect our precious biodiversity.
“The next chair of the EAC will be elected by the whole House in the coming weeks. Whoever wins that election will join a terrific team of talented MPs from all sides of the House. I wish them the very best in the vital work of holding the Government and its public bodies to account on their environmental track record.”
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