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Labour fails to fill final ECCC vacancy

The Labour Party has failed to fill all three of its vacancies left on the Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECCC) after a host of MPs were assigned shadow cabinet roles.

Nominations closed on Friday with Rushanara Ali and Tom Blenkinsop emerging to take the positions without the need for a vote. But Utility Week understands that the third space on the committee is yet to be filled.

A total of four spots are open to Labour MPs on the influential select committee. These were initially held by Alan Whitehead, Ian Lavery, Melanie Onn and Matthew Pennycook. But with all but Pennycook promoted to shadow cabinet positions Labour was tasked with nominating at least three possible replacements.

Labour needs to fill spaces across 12 parliamentary committees with many former front bench MPs stepping forward on Friday; including Chuka Umunna, Liz Kendall, Mary Creagh, Rachel Reeves, Emma Reynolds, Ben Bradshaw, Dave Hanson and Stella Creasy.

But former shadow energy minister Caroline Flint has kept her distance from further involvement in energy policy to stand against four others for one of the three places available on the Public Accounts Committee.

The ECCC, led by the SNP’s Angus MacNeil, are due to meet on Tuesday at 11.15 to hear evidence from the solar industry. The hearing forms part of its investigation into investor confidence in the industry following a host of subsidy cuts from the Conservative government in the five months since the general election.

The new Labour members will attend meetings following formal approval later this week.