The All Party Parliamentary Water Group

The All Party Parliamentary Water Group provides a forum for Parliamentarians and interested stakeholders to monitor government and regulatory policy and maintain a dialogue with government, Parliament, the water sector and a wide range of other interested groups. The Group has been running for nearly 10 years and is one of the most active All Party Groups in Parliament, holding regular meetings throughout the year on a wide range of topics.

The Group Officers

The Group is led by a cross-party team of officers, headed by our Group co-chairs, Angela Smith MP and Baroness McIntosh of Pickering.

Angela Smith MP, Co-Chair

Angela Smith was Shadow Water Minister from April 2014 to September 2015, having previously served as Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, and is now a leading member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. She had been the Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge (formerly Sheffield, Hillsborough) since May 2005 and was one of the party’s leading voices on environmental and conservation issues. In February 2019 Angela left the Labour Party to sit as an Independent MP.

 

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering, Co-Chair

Anne McIntosh was elevated to the peerage as Baroness McIntosh of Pickering in October 2015 following a long career as first an MEP, from 1989 to 1999, and then as Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton (formerly Vale of York) from 1997 to 2015. She has a huge range of experience and expertise in environmental policy having served as Shadow Environment Minister from 2007 to 2010 and as Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee from 2010 to 2015.

 

Neil Parish MP, Vice Chair

Neil Parish is a former MEP who was elected as the Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton at the 2010 general election. During his career in the European Parliament, from 1999 to 2009, he sat on the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. He has served as Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee since 2015, having been re-elected following the 2017 general election.  

 

The Earl of Selborne, Vice Chair

The Earl of Selborne is a respected ecological expert and former Chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee in the House of Lords. He has been a Peer since 1971 and has served in a wide range of senior roles including as President of the Royal Agricultural Society from 1987 to 1988, as President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1997 to 2000 and as a Patron of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.