TWENTY MPs have secured a spot at the front of the queue to have their own private members bill debated.
Conservative MP Desmond Swayne came top in the "Ballot for Bills", the random draw to decide which backbench and opposition MP can have the first full day’s debate on a private member’s bill of their choosing.
The process happens shortly after the start of every parliamentary session.
Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP for Spen Valley, secured a spot at the front of the queue in the last ballot almost two years ago.
She chose to table the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposed a framework for assisted dying in England and Wales. She had re-entered the ballot but was not selected.
The full list of MPs from the 2026 private members bill ballot:
- Desmond Swayne (Conservative, New Forest West)
- Lauren Edwards (Labour, Rochester and Strood)
- Mike Wood (Conservative, Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
- Andrew George (Liberal Democrats, St Ives)
- Luke Evans (Conservative, Hinckley and Bosworth)
- John Whittingdale (Conservative, Maldon)
- Jessica Toale (Labour, Bournemouth West)
- Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative, Solihull West and Shirley)
- Gareth Snell (Labour, Stoke-on-Trent Central)
- Lincoln Jopp (Conservative, Spelthorne)
- Patricia Ferguson (Labour, Glasgow West)
- Robert Jenrick (Reform UK, Newark)
- Damian Hinds (Conservative, East Hampshire)
- Alistair Strathern (Labour, Hitchin)
- Clive Jones (Liberal Democrats, Wokingham)
- Victoria Atkins (Conservative, Louth and Horncastle)
- Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrats, Twickenham)
- Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrats, North Norfolk)
- Paul Foster (Labour, South Ribble)
- David Pinto-Duschinsky (Labour, Hendon)
Most of the 20 MPs in this year’s ballot have not yet published the titles of their bills, but early indications point to legislation on child criminal exploitation, long‑term cancer care and children’s health among the proposals.
Atkins (above) is understood to be planning a bill on child criminal exploitation and strengthening duties to protect children from organised crime, while Jones is preparing a cancer‑focused bill to require a long‑term cancer strategy and better support for NHS cancer services.
