An unnecessary ceremony?

_45960043_-4When a new Speaker is elected by the Commons, the approbation of the monarch is required.  Rather than attend in person, the monarch conveys  that approbation through a royal commission.  MPs are summoned to the bar of the House of Lords and the commission – comprising the Lord Chancellor and the leaders of the parties (and the convenor of the cross-benchers) in the Lords - delivers the Queen’s confirmation.

When John Bercow was elected Speaker on 22 June, he and other MPs were summoned by Black Rod and crowded into the area below the bar.  The commissioners were sat in front of the throne, Jack Straw in his black robes and hat, looking like Judge Jeffreys about to send somone to the gallows, and the others in their ermine.  After the commission had been read, Jack Straw declared “Her Majesty’s royal allowance and confirmation of you, Sir, as Speaker of the House of Commons.”

While I am a greater supporter of ceremony where it has a purpose, I am not sure whether this ceremony is altogether necessary.   The election is one for the House of Commons and I doubt if MPs appreciate having to traipse all the way over to the Lords to crowd into the cramped space that is available.   It used to be the case that when a Bill received royal assent, Black Rod had to summon the Commons to attend the Lords to hear the announcement of that assent.  It interrupted business and MPs got fed up with it.  As a result, royal assent is now announced in each House without any great ceremony and without any interruption of business. 

There may be a case in the future for the approbation to be delivered by the Lord Chancellor in the Commons (given that he is now an MP), or – if the Lord Chancellor sits in the Lords – an MP who holds a position in the Royal Household.  Or is this too radical?  I also have ideas for reforming some aspects of the State Opening of Parliament!

A supplementary question

47612In this week’s quiz, I asked respondents to identify three women peers presently in the House who have served as Cabinet ministers in the House of Commons.  Seven readers – Michael, stephenpaterson, Croft, Len, Jonathan, AJackson and Steph – responded, each correctly identifying three women peers (such as Baronesses Bottomley, Thatcher and Williams of Crosby) who have served as Cabinet ministers in the Commons. 

Not surprisingly, there was considerable overlap in the answers.  Between them, the readers identified a total of five female peers.  Given that there are only six women in the House who have served as Cabinet ministers in the Commons, there is thus one missing.  Have a look at the answers to the question in the preceding post for the five names identified. 

Who is the one female peer missing from the list who has served as a Cabinet minister while an MP?

Quiz question

47609I have been struck by how many people comment on the weekly quiz question.  It is a regular topic of conversation whenever the blog gets mentioned.  Readers appear to enjoy reading it, attempting it (not necessarily by writing in), or finding out what the answers are.  I know some like to attempt it without reading the comments, rather like those who attempt crosswords even though the solutions may be published in the same issue. 

Several people have commented on how much they enjoy it, even though they cannot answer the questions, a category that includes some members of the House.  I thought this week I would make it a little different and come up with a challenging, but I hope not overly demanding, question and one where we can have more than one winner.

The winners will be the first three readers to identify three women peers presently in the House who have served as Cabinet ministers in the House of Commons.   There are more than three women peers who have served as Cabinet ministers in the Commons, so not all answers will necessarily be identical.  And one or two names should come to mind, I would have thought, fairly easily…

Lords of the Blog in Orbit

Lords of the Blog had a coming of age party on Thursday. A number of us celebrated with Hansard and House of Lords staff. The experimental stage has come to an end and we are now an established and ongoing operation. Our readers have helped make this a success – especially those who responded to the survey some months ago. I don’t think there are many people who question the importance of new ways to reach the public and we are the first legislature to have a blog of this type.

Many thanks to all of you for your help and support – we raised a glass to you!

A Great Party

Lord Norton is sad to see the Law Lords go but of course my getting a new office in the Palace depended on their going so I’m selfishly delighted. But I do really approve the idea of the Supreme Court being detached from parliament, although of course it was in effect detached in the way it conducted its business. Rather to my surprise our new office has been completely refurbished already and is now, while not roomy or particularly luxurious,  adequately equipped and has storage. Today the man from PICT, (the Parliamentary Information, Communications and Technology office) set up my computer.  Our filing cabinets are red to match the carpet. Very lordly. I can now find my way there without getting lost. I must tell you there is a loo nearby which has a big notice on the door saying ‘ This is a unisex loo, gentlemen are asked to close the door’.  And ladies?

Yesterday evening to a very special party in the lovely River Room in the old Lord Chancellor’s suite where  we Lords of the Blog celebrated the launch of the new site and our going ‘permanent’. We aren’t a ‘pilot project’ any more. Definitely an A list event…..all your favourites Lord Bloggers were there and all the people who have made it happen, from the Lords Director of Information Services and Chief Librarian Liz Hallam Smith, who was wearing a definitely A list floaty dress, the Lord Speaker (whose room we were using) pleased to be out of her clerical garb into a summery suit on such a warm evening, to the team from Communications and the Hansard Society without whom none of it could have happened.  We talked about all you bloggers of course, we’d love to know a little more about our ‘regulars’. We aren’t anonymous, do you have to be?