CPA NEWS COMMONWEALTH SPEAKERS ATTEND FIRST EVER COMMONS AND OVERSEAS TERRITORIES SPEAKERS’ CONFERENCE Image credit: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor
At the first ever Commons and Overseas Territories Speakers’ Conference 2022 (COTSC 2022), supported by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Commonwealth Speakers and representatives attended from Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, St Helena, Turks and Caicos and Gibraltar as well as the United Kingdom. A wide range of topics were discussed at the three-day conference in London, UK including security and climate change, with a focus on how the British Overseas Territories can get their voices heard in the UK Parliament. Attendees at the conference were also received by HRH The Prince of Wales at a special lunch at Clarence House. The CPA UK Joint Branch President and the Speaker of the UK House of Commons, Rt Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP said: “It was an honour to welcome to the House of Commons, Speakers and representatives from the Overseas Territories. It is so important to me that during my term as Speaker we engage with and learn from all of the Overseas Territories. From my perspective, the Overseas Territories have been overlooked for too long, yet many of the decisions we make here in the UK have a huge impact on their futures.” The UK Speaker aims to use his Speakership to give a voice to the 14 British Overseas Territories, which are located from the Pitcairn Islands in the Southern Pacific Ocean to the British Indian Ocean Territory almost 10,000 miles away. Commonwealth Speakers attending the conference held at the UK Parliament included: Hon. Barbara Webster-Bourne, Speaker of the Anguilla House of Assembly; Hon. Dennis P. Lister JP, MP, Speaker of the House of Assembly of Bermuda; Hon. Dr W. McKeeva Bush, JP, MP, Speaker of the Cayman Islands Parliament; Hon. Charliena White, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Montserrat; Hon. Cyril Gunnell, Speaker of the St Helena Legislative Council; Hon. Gordon Burton, Speaker of the House of Assembly of Turks and Caicos Islands; Hon. Steven E. Linares, Minister for Housing, Employment, Youth and Sport from Gibraltar. They were joined by Parliamentary Clerks and representatives from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
UK SPEAKER VISITS THE FALKLAND ISLANDS LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
The CPA UK Joint Branch President, Rt Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, Speaker of the UK House of Commons has addressed the Falkland Island Legislative Assembly during a visit to the British Overseas Territory in May 2022. The UK Speaker was welcomed by his counterpart, CPA Falkland Islands Branch President, Hon. Keith Biles, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. It was the second visit by Sir Lindsay Hoyle – but the first ever by a Speaker of the UK House of Commons. The visit marked the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the Falkland Islands from Argentine forces in 1982 and the Speaker laid a wreath at the armed forces memorial on the islands. During the visit, the UK Speaker was accompanied by the UK Government Minister for the British Overseas Territories, Hon. Amanda Milling MP and together they met with the Governor of the Falkland Islands, His Excellency Nigel Phillips CBE.
70TH WESTMINSTER SEMINAR EXPLORES EVOLVING PARLIAMENTS
Commonwealth Parliamentarians from 23 Legislatures were welcomed to the UK Parliament from 14 to 18 March 2022 with a further 22 Legislatures joining online for the first hybrid Westminster Seminar. With an overall theme of ‘Evolving Parliaments’, the fiveday programme organised by the CPA UK Branch featured topics such as procedural adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental sustainability and the role of technology in our democracies. The Joint CPA UK Branch President and Speaker of the UK House of Commons, Rt Hon. Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP welcomed delegates for the 70th anniversary of the Westminster Seminar, one of the longest running seminars in the Association.
For the latest CPA and Commonwealth news please visit www.cpahq.org or follow the CPA on social media Twitter @CPA_Secretariat | Facebook.com/CPAHQ | LinkedIn | Instagram @cpa_secretariat 112 | The Parliamentarian | 2022: Issue Two | 100 years of publishing