Bristol MP Charlotte Leslie has been elected to serve on the Education Select Committee in parliament. Select Committees are cross-party committees set up to take evidence, and do detailed work on policy analysis and formation.

For the first time, Select Committee members were voted for by voting amongst fellow MPs in the party. Charlotte is one of just three other Conservative MPs to be elected to the committee.

Commenting, Charlotte said:

“I’ve always had an interest in education because it is quite simply where life chances are won or lost; it’s the start of a life-story; And of course in Bristol, the gulf between the best and the most challenged schools is simply massive and one of my life’s ambitions would be to help close that terrible gap.

 Working on the education select committee will be brilliant because it’s where MPs put party political differences aside to work with other MPs. I’ll be looking at evidence, speaking to a massive range of people on the front line of education and really getting to grips with the gritty detail of what works in education and what doesn’t. It’s what I’m in politics to do – work together to make things a bit better, instead of thrashing about in petty party-political tribalism. 

And it will be fascinating to be part of policy making with so much going on in education at the moment – and I hope it will be a real help in getting things done for education in Bristol. “