New series, new host: Committee Corridor podcast returns on February 2

• Find out more about Committee Corridor
• Listen to episodes from series 1 and 2

The new series will be presented by the Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Joanna Cherry MP, who is the Scottish National Party Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South West.  

Committee Corridor brings the voices of leading public figures together with Members from select committees to consider topical issues and the scrutiny work that takes place in Parliament’s select committees.  

The opening episode of the series focusses on modern slavery in the UK. Joanna Cherry will question the UK’s former Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Professor Dame Thornton on her perspective at the end of her three-year term. Chair of the International Development Committee, Sarah Champion MP, and Home Affairs Committee member, Tim Loughton MP, will also talk about the work their committees have done on this important issue. 

Chair quote

New host and Chair of JCHR, Joanna Cherry MP said:  

“I’m delighted to be presenting the next series of Committee Corridor. In this new series, we’re looking at what committees are doing to ensure the human rights of everyone in the United Kingdom are protected. We’ll ask what that means for the workplace, what our legal system is doing to protect us, and how.  

“Modern slavery is a serious problem in the UK and across the world. It is closer to our everyday lives than many realise, with cases being found in shops, services and people’s homes. There are also severe issues in the global supply chains for the things we buy. 

“In this opening programme of the new series. I’ll be asking our guests, Dame Sara Thornton, Sarah Champion MP and Tim Loughton MP for their perspectives on this terrible practice. I’ll be asking them what more the UK can do to root out cases, support victims and combat the practice globally. Do join us.” 

Launched in summer 2022, the first series of Committee Corridor tackled pressing international issues and was hosted by the former Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat MP. The Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, Darren Jones MP, considered the cost of living crisis in series two.   

Select Committees are an established and critical part of the UK’s parliamentary democracy. Along the length of Committee Corridor in the Houses of Parliament and in Portcullis House, cross-party groups of parliamentarians work together to investigate critical issues of the day, and put their findings directly to Government, who must respond. Joint Committees, are formed of Members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. They work together as one committee and appoint a single Chair who can be from either House.