A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Select committees exist in the British Parliament, as well as in other parliaments based on the Westminster model, such as those in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

It is a special subcommittee of a legislature or assembly governed under a committee system, like Robert's Rules of Order. They are often investigative in nature, collecting data or evidence for a law or problem, and will dissolve immediately after they report their findings to their superiors.

These are very common in government legislatures, and are used to solve special problems, hence their name.

In the United States, notable select committees include the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (for investigating Nixon's role in Watergate), and the 9/11 Commission (for uncovering further details on the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centers).

George Gideon Oliver Osborne,MP (born 23 May 1971 in Paddington, London) is a British Conservative politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001.

Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy, known in Ireland as the Ascendancy. He is the heir to the Osborne baronetcy (of Ballentaylor, in County Tipperary, and Ballylemon, in County Waterford).

He was educated at St Paul's School and Magdalen College, University of Oxford, before entering politics.

Osborne is the eldest of four sons. His father, Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet, co-founded the firm of fabric and wallpapers designers Osborne & Little. His mother is Felicity Alexandra Loxton-Peacock, the daughter of artist Lady Clarisse Loxton Peacock.

Originally named Gideon Oliver, he changed his name to George when he was 13. In an interview in July 2005, Osborne said: "It was my small act of rebellion. I never liked it. When I finally told my mother she said, 'Nor do I'. So I decided to be George after my grandfather, who was a war hero. Life was easier as a George; it was a straightforward name."