MPs Get Serious Over Select Committee Battle As MP Releases Promo Video

Watch MP Break New Ground In Pitching For Top Job

The battle to lead Parliament's powerful select committees just got serious after a Conservative MP released a promotional video championing his credentials for the job.

Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe in Kent, is among four would-be chairmen of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, and has produced a 2 minute 24 second clip to support his bid. It is thought to be the first of its kind.

The film, designed to win support from MPs from all parties, features an appearance alongside Prince Harry, tweets where he was quoted by ex-Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger when part of the phone hacking inquiry, and a commitment to giving football fans "more say about how the game is run" amid the Fifa scandal.

"Our heritage, culture, media and sport are really important to our national life," he concludes in the film, which has echoes of US-style campaign videos.

"And in this film you can see some of my commitment to them. I hope I can have your support in my campaign to be chairman of the select committee."

As The Huffington Post UK reported last week - revealing the early runners and riders - MPs started campaigning just days after the General Election to win support from their peers.

Nominations for the committees, which come with a £14,876 salary on top of the standard £67,060 MP’s wage, opened today and close next Wednesday.

The CMS committee secured a big national profile in the last Parliament over its investigation into phone hacking after calling Rupert Murdoch to give evidence.

Mr Collins is likely to go up against fellow Tories Jesse Norman, Jason McCartney and Graham Stuart, who have all signalled they will they will run.

Other notable contests include Labour MPs Helen Goodman, David Hanson, Meg Hillier and Gisela Stuart vying for the Public Accounts Committee, which quizzed Google and Amazon over their tax affairs in the last session.

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