The Rt Hon Lucy Powell MP
Biography
Lucy Powell was appointed Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons on 5 July 2024. She was elected as the MP for Manchester Central in July 2024.
Lord President of the Council
The Privy Council is one of the oldest parts of the government and advises on the exercise of prerogative business and certain functions assigned to The King and the Council by Acts of Parliament. It is, therefore, the mechanism through which interdepartmental agreement is reached on those items of government business which, for historical or other reasons, fall to ministers as Privy Counsellors rather than as departmental ministers.
The Lord President of the Council has ministerial responsibility for the Privy Council Office which manages Privy Council business.
Leader of the House of Commons
The Leader of the House is responsible for delivery of the government’s legislative programme and chairs the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Cabinet Committee.
The role involves managing the business of the House of Commons in close cooperation with the Chief Whip, making a weekly business statement to the House and facilitating motions and debate in the Chamber.
The Leader of the House acts as the government’s representative in the House (by statute sitting on the House of Commons Commission, Public Accounts Commission, and the Speaker’s Committee on the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority); and as the House’s representative in government, including by contributing to the civil service’s efforts to build parliamentary capability and by taking up members’ requests for help on ministerial correspondence and questions.
The Leader of the House also sits on the Members Estimate Committee.