Alistair Doherty is a former senior official of the House of Commons. His work as a Commons Clerk was divided between the provision of procedural expertise on the Rules of Procedure together with the custom and practice of the House, and the running of oversight committees.
On the procedural side his career involved dealing parliamentary questions and the order of business, as well as with the passage of legislation through the House and its committees.
Parliamentary scrutiny by departmental select committee is now a defining feature of the Westminster system and analogous approaches have taken on greater importance in democratic parliaments. Over his 32-year career Alistair was the Clerk to the Transport, International Development, Scottish Affairs, and European Scrutiny Committees and has a wealth of experience in conducting oversight inquiries.
As the procedural adviser to the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly he has experience of international parliamentary assemblies. He has also been the Secretary of UK’s Study of Parliament Group, a body which brings together senior parliamentary officials and academics with an interest in parliamentary affairs.
Alistair’s involvement with WFD’s parliamentary strengthening began while he was working at the Commons. Since leaving Westminster, he has worked extensively as a parliamentary strengthening adviser for WFD (and others) in many countries, including the DRC, Pakistan, Nepal, Georgia, Ghana, Serbia, Armenia, Egypt, and Ukraine.