**Overview** The dataset begins with the 1979-80 parliamentary session when the modern system of select committees in the UK House of Commons was established. There is one dataset available at present (available in both SPSS and Excel formats): - **Membership of all select committees, 1979-80 to 2014-15** The dataset only includes MPs and excludes any lay members of committees. We have also uploaded a file which explains the coding of the variables and any other aspect of the dataset that may require explanation. You are free to use the dataset in any way you wish but please do cite us in any work that emanates from its use (whether for teaching purposes or in an article, a blog or an essay, *etc.*). A list of published academic work which has used the dataset is included at the bottom of this page. The citation to be used is: - Goodwin, M., Holden Bates, S., & McKay, S. (2019) *UK House of Commons Select Committee Data Archive*. Available from: osf.io/ywgh5 We are hoping to update the files to include data from the 2015-17 and current parliaments but there have been changes to Sessional Returns recently which make data collection more difficult. We are also hoping to update the files to include a Members' Names Information Service (MNIS) ID for all MPs. We are also hoping to publish data on witnesses, debates, reports, divisions, etc. also recorded in the Sessional Returns at some point in the future. If you spot any mistakes in the data, please do let us know and we will update and re-publish the files accordingly. ---------- **Thanks** We would like to thank Cherry Miller for discussions which led to us having the original idea of collecting all the data from the Sessional Returns. We are grateful to Hattie Craig, Darcy Luke and Wang Leung Ting for their help with the data collection. This data was collected as part of a project part-funded by the British Academy (SQ140007). ---------- **List of published works which have used the dataset:** [Bates, S., Goodwin, M., & McKay, S. (2017). Do UK MPs engage more with Select Committees since the Wright Reforms? An interrupted time series analysis, 1979–2016. Parliamentary Affairs, 70(4), 780-800.][1] [McKay, S., Goodwin, M., Holden Bates, S. (2019). A Means to an End and an End in itself: Select Committee Membership, Parliamentary Roles and Parliamentary Careers, 1979-Present. *Parliamentary Affairs*, advanced access, DOI: 10.1093/pa/gsz038.][2] [1]: https://academic.oup.com/pa/article-abstract/70/4/780/3769269 [2]: https://academic.oup.com/pa/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/pa/gsz038/5561466?redirectedFrom=fulltext