Harriet's man ban in 'sexist' Commons: MPs vote to ditch term 'chairman' for gender-neutral 'chair'



Sweeping reform: Harriet Harman has spearheaded a feminist agenda at Westminster

Parliament has banished the word 'chairman' from its proceedings for being too sexist.

MPs voted by 206 to 90 to replace it with the gender neutral 'chair' as part of sweeping reforms in the Commons.

The move was endorsed by Commons Leader Harriet Harman, pictured, who has spearheaded a feminist agenda at Westminster.

But Tory MP Nadine Dorries condemned the move as 'ridiculous'.

She said: 'What a complete nonsense. MPs should be getting on with the more substantive reforms in the Commons rather than dealing with this politically correct frippery.'

Labour was also accused of sheltering Speaker John Bercow from being deposed from his position.

Miss Harman ignored pleas from backbenchers for a secret ballot to re-elect the Speaker after the General Election.

Mr Bercow faces a separate challenge at the ballot box from UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who is standing against him in his Buckinghamshire seat.



However MPs want Mr Bercow to face a secret ballot before continuing as Speaker if he does see off Mr Farage.

Senior Tories were furious that Miss Harman had listed a raft of parliamentary reforms but did not include the possibility of a secret ballot.

However, she said: 'We already changed the rules when we elected our Speaker, we've actually done for the first time an election by secret ballot so we've already addressed the issue very recently.'

The Government also blocked an attempt to give MPs a say over whether they should elect the chairman of the controversial Intelligence and Security Committee.

High Court judges said the panel of senior MPs, which reports to the Prime Minister not to Parliament, were misled by the security services over their complicity in the torture of terrorist suspects.



