Organisation
The British-American Parliamentary Group is a cross-party, bicameral, inter-parliamentary group.
It acts as an autonomous body within Parliament. It appoints its own staff to carry out its objectives and the Rules of the Group define the limitations on its powers.
The management of the Group is vested in the Executive Committee. The Honorary Secretary and the Joint Honorary Treasurers are nominated by the Executive Committee and ratified each year at the Annual General Meeting as additional members of the Executive Committee with full voting rights. They are primarily responsible for the Group’s activities and the Programme Manager, who is an official of the Committee and not a member, is responsible for the executive work of the Group. The Chair of the Group is the Prime Minister. The two Vice-Chairs from the House of Commons are normally of Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet rank.
| Officers and Members of the Executive Committee 2023-2024 | |
| Honorary Joint Presidents | The Speaker of the House of Commons The Lord Speaker |
| Honorary Vice-Presidents | The Rt. Hon. Dame Margaret Beckett, DBE, MP The Rt. Hon. Ian Blackford, MP The Rt. Hon. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, MP The Rt. Hon. the Lord Falconer of Thoroton, KC The Rt. Hon. the Lord Hague of Richmond The Rt. Hon. the Lord Howard of Lympne, CH, KC The Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt, MP The Rt. Hon. the Lord Jopling, DL The Rt. Hon. Ed Miliband, MP The Rt. Hon. Andrew Mitchell, MP The Rt. Hon. the Lord Owen, CH The Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab, MP The Rt. Hon. Sir Keir Starmer, KCB, KC, MP Stephen Flynn, MP |
| Honorary Chair | The Prime Minister |
| Honorary Vice-Chairs | The Rt. Hon. James Cleverly, MP The Rt. Hon. David Lammy, MP The Rt. Hon. the Baroness Jay of Paddington |
| Honorary Secretary | The Rt. Hon. John Spellar, MP |
| Honorary Treasurers | The Rt. Hon. Sir Greg Knight, MP Sir Christopher Chope, OBE, MP |
As a result of the elections held at the Group’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 12th July 2023, the following members were elected to the Executive Committee, to serve until the Annual General Meeting in July 2024:
| Members of the Executive Committee 2023-2024 House of Commons |
|
| Government Rehman Chishti, MP Philip Davies, MP The Rt. Hon. Chris Grayling, MP Stephen Hammond, MP Jack Lopresti, MP |
Opposition Yvonne Fovargue, MP (Labour) The Rt. Hon. John Healey, MP (Labour) The Rt. Hon. Dame Diana Johnson, DBE, MP (Labour) The Rt. Hon. Kevan Jones, MP (Labour) Chi Onwuarah, MP (Labour) |
| House of Lords | |
| Conservative Party The Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate The Rt. Hon. the Lord Haselhurst |
Labour Party The Rt. Hon. the Lord Anderson of Swansea, DL The Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, KT GCMG |
| Liberal Democrat The Lord Fox |
Crossbench The Earl of Devon |
Programme Manager: Hannah Mitchell
In Washington D.C., the BAPG is authorized by law, with the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House appointing and authorizing Members of the Senate and House to meet with Parliamentarians for annual conferences and other activities. Funding is obtained each year through appropriations to pay for its expenses.
In the United States Senate, the leadership has yet to appoint a successor to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) as Chair of the Senate BAPG, who retired from the Senate in January 2023. The Republican Vice Chair remains Senator John Boozman (Arkansas), who serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. Senator Boozman also serves on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission). It is the Chair and Vice Chair who will convene the Senate delegations to the Group meetings.
In the United States House of Representatives, the House BAPG delegation is led by co-chairs Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), who serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, and Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colorado), who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
It is the commitment of the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the Senate and House BAPG and other Congressional leaders and their staff which ensures the continuity of these links between the two legislatures.