Eleanor Laing, Scottish lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
Dame Eleanor Fulton Laing, (née Pritchard, born 1 February 1958) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Epping Forest constituency since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, she has served as Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons since 2020.
In 2013, her fellow MPs elected her as a Deputy Speaker and First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, replacing Conservative MP Nigel Evans.
Laing was a candidate in the 2019 Speakership election, but was eliminated in the third round of voting having received fewer votes than her two competitors, Lindsay Hoyle and Chris Bryant. She was elected as Chairman of Ways and Means and the most senior Deputy Speaker to Lindsay Hoyle in January 2020, becoming the first woman in the role.