Diane Abbott, too left-wing for the Treasury?

Select Committee Members Named

Theoretically the committees are free to elect their own chairmen - but in practice the choice tends to be heavily influenced by the Party whips.

Labour left-winger Chris Mullin, who campaigned against the conviction of the Birmingham Six and the Bridgewater Four, seems a likely candidate to chair Home Affairs, while Giles Radice will probably chair the Treasury committee. Veteran Welsh Labour MP Donald Anderson is expected to lead Foreign Affairs.

The Labour MP, Diane Abbott, who complained that her left-wing views cost her a place on the Treasury committee, on which she served for eight years, gets the consolation of a seat on the Foreign Affairs committee.

New members of the Treasury committee include Ruth Kelly, who worked for the Bank of England before becoming MP for Bolton West, and Putney MP Tony Colman - one of new Labour's millionaires.

As well as openings for the new intake of MPs, there are also roles for older hands, such as arch Euro-sceptic Sir Teddy Taylor, the Conservative MP who gets a place on the Treasury committee.

The composition of the committees has to be formally agreed by a resolution in the House before it can be considered to be finalised. To reflect the size of its landslide election victory, Labour will have a substantial majority on all the committees, which monitor the work of Whitehall departments.

The members of the Northern Ireland committee, as well as the Commons "housekeeping" committees, are likely to emerge later in the week. Membership of the powerful Public Accounts Committee - expected to be chaired, as is traditional, by the official Opposition, despite Liberal Democrat protests - will be decided on the floor of the House.

The names of the MPs who will sit on the three committees are -

Foreign Affairs

Home Affairs

Treasury