Nicky Morgan becomes first woman to be elected Treasury Select Committee chair

Nicky Morgan told The Independent it was "extraordinary" no woman had yet held the job (Getty)

Conservative Remainer Nicky Morgan has been elected head of the influential Treasury Select Committee, beating prominent Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Former army officer and Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Tom Tugenhadt will take over as head of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Outspoken Monmouthshire MP David TC Davies will head the Welsh Affairs Committee.

Julian Lewis was re-elected as head of the Defence Committee, despite a challenge from Johnny Mercer.

Ms Morgan is the first woman to hold the role, which was vacated by its long term head Andrew Tyrie MP, a longstanding Cameron critic. Labour backbencher Ben Bradshaw said: "Great news that sensible Tory opposed to May's disastrous extreme Brexit gets Treasury Select Committee Chair."

Ms Morgan was a member of Open Britain, the cross party group that grew out of the official referendum Remain campaign, until all its Conservative members, including Dominic Grieve and Anna Soubry, left over its plan to oust Brexit backing Conservatives.

In an interview earlier this week, Ms Morgan told The Independent it was "extraordinary" no woman had held the job.

Ms Morgan, who has been an education secretary, treasury minister and also held the equalities brief, said: “I believe this is a job I can do, having worked at the Treasury, but there is always an interest in breaking new ground.

“I just think that it is extraordinary that in 2017, we are still breaking new ground.”

She added: “Obviously it should be about choosing the right person for the job, with the skills and ability to do it, but I’m very pleased that we don’t have a field of six men standing for an important role.”

Other candidates for the post, which came up after previous holder Andrew Tyrie stood down, include MPs Richard Bacon, Charlie Elphicke, Stephen Hammond, John Penrose and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Labour's Rachel Reeves will chair the Business Select Committee. Yvette Cooper will carry on at Home Affairs, having replaced Keith Vaz earlier this year.