Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins and Ashford MP Damian Green square up for top select committee job

Two neighbouring Kent MPs are pitching to lead one of the most influential cross-party committees in Parliament.

Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins and Ashford MP Damian Green are vying to become chairman of the all-party culture, media and sport select committee in Parliament.

The committee is one of of the most high-profile in Westminster and needs a new chairman after the promotion of John Whittingale to the government.

Ironically, if either gets the job they will have the task of holding to account the Kent MP Tracey Crouch, who has become sports minister and used to sit on the committee.

In a YouTube video for his campaign, Mr Collins highlights his track record on tackling and exposing corruption in Fifa and investigating the exploitation of workers in Quatar involved in building new football stadiums.

He also underlines his role as a member of the select committee in the hacking inquiry, saying: “We cannot forget the mistakes that were made and the systematic failure of governance we saw in the last Parliament.”

For his part, the former minister Damian Green appears to have growing support for his bid,with cross-party support from 20 MPs.

He highlights the issue of the BBC charter and the future of the licence fee at the top of his “issues” list in his nomination document.

In addition, he sets out press freedom and privacy on his six-point list of “ideas for the committee.”

The vote for the chairmanship takes place on Wednesday.