The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support

good governance Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for th ...

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

. In 1989 the

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the CPA was the

Head of the Commonwealth The head of the Commonwealth is the ceremonial leader who symbolises "the free association of independent member nations" of the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation that currently comprises 56 sovereign states. There is ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

. The vice-patronship rotates amongst

Heads of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and le ...

and of Government of the

Commonwealth nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

who host its forthcoming annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference. The Association's supreme authority is the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

, constituted by delegates to the annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference. The business and activities of the CPA are managed by an Executive Committee, which reports to the General Assembly. The CPA's funds are derived from membership fees paid by its

branches A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually ...

, as well as from two

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "settl ...

s and benefactors. The official publication of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is ''The Parliamentarian'', the

Journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

of Commonwealth Parliaments which was first published in January 1920. The organisation administers the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), a network across the Commonwealth which promotes greater representation for women in Parliament; the CPA Small Branches network, representing parliaments and legislatures with populations below 500,000 people; the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) network; and the Commonwealth Youth Parliament, an annual gathering of young people hosted by a Commonwealth Parliament. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) currently has approximately 180 branches and is divided into nine regions: Africa, Asia, Australia, British Islands and Mediterranean, Canada, Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic, India, Pacific, and

South-East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. The CPA Headquarters Secretariat is based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

History

Pandit Ram Kishore Shukla at 30th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference at The Isle of Man in October 1984

The CPA was founded as the Empire Parliamentary Association in 1911, with its first branches being Australia, Canada,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom, the latter branch administering the Association as a whole. In 1948 the Association changed its name to the current Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and invited all branches to participate in the organisation's administration.

Officers

The office of

Chairperson The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the CPA Executive Committee is held by

Ian Liddell-Grainger Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

MP of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

since August 2022. He was previously Acting Chairperson from April 2021. Previous CPA Chairpersons have included:

Emilia Monjowa Lifaka Emilia Monjowa Lifaka (11 April 195920 April 2021) was a Cameroonian politician and chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. She was a member of the National Assembly of Cameroon, first elected in 2002, and was vice-president o ...

MP, Deputy Speaker of the

National Assembly of Cameroon The National Assembly (french: Assemblée Nationale) is the lower house of the Parliament of Cameroon. It has 180 members, elected for five-year terms in 49 single and multi-seat constituencies. Together with the senate, it constitutes the legi ...

(2017-2021);

Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury (born 6 October 1966) is the current and the first female Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad since April 2013. At 46 years of age, she became the youngest to assume the office. She was also the Chairperson of the Executive Co ...

, Speaker of

Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban or National Parliament House, ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ ভবন ''Jatiyô Sôngsôd Bhôbôn'') is the house of the Parliament of Bangladesh, located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

(2014–2017), who succeeded Sir Alan Haselhurst MP (2011–2014), formerly

Chairman of Ways and Means In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of Ways and Means is a senior member of the House of Commons who acts as one of the Speaker's three deputies. The incumbent is Dame Eleanor Laing, MP for Epping Forest, who was first elected to the office on ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

. The position of CPA Vice-Chairperson is currently held by Hon.

Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu (previously known as Lawrence Addae and born on 3 February 1957) is a Ghanaian urban planner and politician. He is currently the majority leader in the Ghanaian Parliament and also the Minister Designate for Parliamentar ...

, MP, Majority Leader and Member of the

Parliament of Ghana The Parliament of Ghana is the legislative body of the Government of Ghana. History Legislative representation in Ghana dates back to 1850, when the country was a British colony known as Gold Coast. The body, called the Legislative Council, ...

. Since August 2022, the CPA Treasurer is

Anurag Sharma (politician) Anurag Sharma (born 16 November 1964) is a Bharatiya Janata Party politician and Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha from Jhansi- Lalitpur constituency of Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. ...

, MP of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

. Since August 2022, the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians is Hon. Dr Zainab Gimba, MP from the

House of Representatives (Nigeria) The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Nigeria's bicameral National Assembly. The Senate is the upper chamber. The House of Representatives has 360 members who are elected in single-member constituencies using the plurality (o ...

. Previous CWP Chairpersons include: Shandana Gulzar Khan, MNA from the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

; Hon.

Noraini Ahmad Noraini binti Ahmad ( Jawi: نورعيني بنت أحمد; born 7 November 1967) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Parit Sulong since March 2008. She served as the Minister of Higher Education for ...

MP,

Parliament of Malaysia The Parliament of Malaysia ( ms, Parlimen Malaysia) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives, Literal translation, lit. "People's A ...

; Rt Hon.

Rebecca Kadaga Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga (born 24 May 1956) is a Ugandan lawyer and politician who served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda from 19 May 2011 until 21 May 2021. She currently serves as the First Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda. She conc ...

MP,

Parliament of Uganda The parliament of Uganda is the country's legislative body. Unicameral, the most significant of the Ugandan parliament's functions is to pass laws that will provide good governance in the country. The government ministers are bound to answer t ...

; Hon.

Alix Boyd Knights Alix Boyd Knights is a Dominican politician and attorney who was the Speaker of the House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnation ...

House of Assembly of Dominica The House of Assembly is the legislature of Dominica. It is established by Chapter III of the Constitution of Dominica, and together with the President of Dominica constitutes Dominica's Parliament. The House is unicameral, and consists of twen ...

; Ms Kashmala Tariq,

; Hon. Lindiwe Maseko,

Parliament of South Africa The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...

and

Gauteng Provincial Legislature The Gauteng Provincial Legislature is the legislature of the South African province of Gauteng. It is a unicameral body of 73 members elected every five years. The current legislature, the sixth, was elected on 8 May 2019 and has an African Natio ...

. Since August 2022, the Chairperson for the CPA Small Branches is

Joy Burch Joy Marie Burch is an Australian politician and the current Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. She has been a Labor Party member for the seat of Brindabella in the ACT Legislative Assembly since the 2008 ACT elec ...

, MLA,

Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory. Speakers of the Australian C ...

. Previous CPA Small Branches Chairpersons include

Niki Rattle Niki Rattle (born 1951) was Speaker of the Cook Islands Parliament from 22 May 2012 to 15 February 2021. Rattle was born in Manihiki. She is a Registered Nurse. Before her appointment she served as Secretary of the Cook Islands Red Cross for 1 ...

, Speaker of the

Parliament of the Cook Islands The Parliament of the Cook Islands ( rar, Pāremeta te Kuku Airani) is the legislature of the Cook Islands. Originally established under New Zealand’s United Nations mandate it became the national legislature on independence in 1965. The Par ...

and Hon.

Angelo Farrugia Angelo "Anġlu" Farrugia (born 29 December 1955) is a Maltese politician and the current Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malta. Previously he served Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, a Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister for w ...

, Speaker of the

Parliament of Malta The Parliament of Malta ( mt, Il-Parlament ta' Malta) is the constitutional legislative body in Malta, located in Valletta. The parliament is unicameral, with a democratically elected House of Representatives and the President of Malta. By const ...

. Since August 2022, the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) is Hon. Laura Kanushu MP from the

. Previous CPwD Chairpersons include Hon. Dennitah Ghati HSC from the National Assembly (Kenya) and Hon.

Kevin Murphy (Canadian politician) Kevin Scott Murphy (born 1970 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2013 provincial election. A member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, he represented the electoral d ...

, former

Speaker of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia The Speaker for the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia is the presiding Officer of the House of Assembly. Keith Bain is the current Speaker of the 64th General Assembly of Nova Scotia. The Speaker presides over the proceedings of the Assembly, maint ...

Secretaries-General

The CPA's 8th Secretary-General is

Stephen Twigg Stephen Twigg (born 25 December 1966) is a British Labour Co-op politician who was Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 1997 to 2005, and for Liverpool West Derby from 2010 to 2019. He came to national prominence in 1997 by winning ...

. He was appointed in August 2020 for a four-year term. Twigg was elected to the

as a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2005 ( Enfield Southgate) and from 2010 to 2019 (

Liverpool West Derby Liverpool, West Derby is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Ian Byrne of the Labour Party. Boundaries 1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Liverpool ward of West Derby. 1918–1950: The ...

). During his parliamentary career, he held several senior positions including chairing the

International Development Select Committee The International Development Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the Committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the international aid functions o ...

, Minister for Schools and a range of Shadow Front Bench roles. Previous

Secretaries-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

have been: Karimulla Akbar Khan, UK/Guyanese Lawyer (2016-2019); William F. Shija, former Minister Tanzania Parliament (2007–2014); Denis Marshall, former Minister New Zealand Parliament (2002–2006); Arthur Donahoe, former Speaker Nova Scotia House of Assembly (1993–2001);

David Tonkin David Oliver Tonkin AO (20 July 1929 – 2 October 2000) was an Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of South Australia from 18 September 1979 to 10 November 1982. He was elected to the House of Assembly seat of Bragg at the 1 ...

, former Premier South Australia (1986–1992); Sir Robin Vandervelt from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

(1961–1985); Sir Howard d’Egville (1949–1960).www.npg.org.uk
/ref>

Members

Members of the CPA are listed below. Both

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

al and subnational parliaments are included.

American Institute of Parliamentarians The American Institute of Parliamentarians (AIP) is a not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1958. The objectives of AIP are to promote the use and teaching of parliamentary procedure, as well as the training and certification of parl ...

– similar association for

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. *

References

Notes

www.oxfordjournals.org

Commonwealth Round Table
International Forum and Journal of the Commonwealth

Official Gazettes / Hansards

List of British colonial gazettes This is a list of official government gazettes for current and former British colonies or protectorates. Some are available to consult at the British National Archives or the British Library. See also *List of government gazettes This is a l ...

External links

*
UK Parliamentary Archives, Records of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
{{Authority control Commonwealth Family 1911 establishments in the United Kingdom International organisations based in London Organizations established in 1911 Politics of Africa Politics of Asia