Sir Robert Goodwill has been elected the new chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) following Neil Parish's exit at the end of April.
The Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby had a brief stint as farming minister in 2019. He will take up the new position with immediate effect and serve to the end of the current parliament.
He was elected by MPs from a shortlist of five candidates, also including Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Neil Hudson, Anthony Mangnall and Derek Thomas, with 243 votes out of a total of 474 cast.
Under Mr Parish’s stewardship, the Efra committee was responsible for lobbying government on a wide range of issues affecting farming, and published a number of reports, including, most recently, a report on the labour shortages in the food and farming industry.
Commenting on his appointment, Sir Robert said: “I am delighted to have been elected chair of this important committee. I hope my experience as a working farmer and as a former Agriculture Minister will mean I can hit the ground running.”
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