Four solicitors join new-look justice committee

The new membership of the House of Commons justice select committee appears strong on legal expertise and includes several qualified solicitors. Apart from chair Andy Slaughter, who is a barrister, the nine members of the committee - seven Labour MPs and two Conservatives - were elected as MPs for the first time in July.

The new members are:

• Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West), a trade union activist and formerly a solicitor with Thompsons Solicitors.

• Pam Cox (Colchester), for 10 years a sociology professor at the University of Essex specialising in criminal justice.
• Linsey Farnsworth (Amber Valley), a solicitor for 23 years, who worked for two decades for the Crown Prosecution Service focusing on serious and organised crime.

• Alex Barros-Curtis (Cardiff West), a lawyer and marketing consultant who was until recently Labour’s executive director of legal affairs.
• Mike Tapp (Dover and Deal), who served in the Intelligence Corps before joining the National Crime Agency and then the Ministry of Defence. He stood to be committee chair but was beaten by Slaughter.
• Sarah Russell (Congleton) is an employment solicitor who has been a consultant with north west firm Fix Whitfield since 2015.

 The Conservative members are:

• Neil Shastri-Hurst (Solihull West and Shirley), a former doctor who retrained as a barrister and joined No5 Chambers, specialising in healthcare, coronial and personal injury law.
• Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater), a solicitor specialising in insurance litigation, who worked for 15 years in Bristol for Badhams Thompson and Morgan Cole and also in-house for Direct Line Insurance.

The Justice Committee examines the policies and spending of the Ministry of Justice and associated public bodies. Its purview includes courts, legal aid, prisons, probation and the rule of law. It also advises on sentencing guidelines. 

This article is now closed for comment.