BASINGSTOKE MP Maria Miller will chair a new select committee in Parliament, it was announced last week.

Mrs Miller, who retained her constituency seat of 10 years at the General Election on May 7, has been selected as the chair of the new Women and Equalities Parliamentary Select Committee.

The new committee was set up on June 3 to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Government’s Equalities Office and it will look at the Government’s performance on equalities issues, including gender, age, race and disability issues.

Mrs Miller was chosen to chair the new committee after being nominated by a host of Conservative MPs including North East Hampshire MP Ranil Jayawardena, Sir Eric Pickles, Nigel Evans and Nicola Blackwood.

In addition, she was nominated by opposition MPs such as Labour’s Sharon Hodgson and Kate Green.

The Basingstoke MP is a former Minister for Disabled People, Minister for Women and Equalities and stepped down from her Cabinet role as the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in April 2014, following an investigation into her second home expenses claims.

During her time as a minister, she led the legislation on same sex marriage and worked to improve support for disabled people to work.

In a statement as part of her bid to become chair of the committee, Mrs Miller said: “Britain has a proud history of challenging inequity and intolerance but, in any society there will always be a need to shine a light on discrimination in whatever form it takes.

“It would be an immense privilege to serve as the first chair of this newly formed committee.

"In my experience as a minister I have seen how a well-run select committee can collect evidence to refine and develop better policy, effectively hold ministers and organisations to account and so create real momentum for change.”

The 51-year-old mother-of-three aims to discuss women’s access to executive management jobs, disabled people’s participation in society and the Government’s policies supporting transgender men and women as part of the committees work programme.

Mrs Miller said: “It is a great privilege to be the first ever chair of this important new committee.

“This new committee will look carefully at how the laws we already have help create a fairer Britain and whether there need to be any changes to make things work better in the future.”