Another quick question for those wishing to test their grey cells over the Christmas period.
There are four members of the House of Lords who hold or have held university posts as professors of politics and who have served, in one capacity or another, in the Politics Department of Hull University.
Who are they?
OK, after a bit of Googling, I came up with:
1. Lord Parekh, emeritus professor of politics at Hull.
2. Lord Giddens. He studied politics at Hull (does that count as “serving, in one capacity or another, in the Politics Department of Hull University”?) and is now a professor at LSE. Reading between the lines of the question, they don’t have to have been professors at Hull!
3. Lord Smith of Clifton. Taught at Hull, and was later a professor at other institutions.
4. Lord Norton of Louth. Don’t know much about this gentleman, but I believe he’s a professor at Hull!
Jonathan: Almost, but not quite. Lord Giddens studied sociology at Hull and went on to be a professor of sociology, so he is not one of the four.
Off the top of my head, I only knew of Lords Parekh and Norton, who were both at Hull when I was, between 1998 and 2001.
Is the missing one Lord Plant of Highfield?
Is the fourth one Lord Plant of Highfield? I have to admit I have never heard of him – he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page! I had to resort to a different website to search for the answer.
Jonathan: It shows the dangers of relying on wikipedia!
You are both correct. Lord Plant of Highfield is indeed the fourth peer. He did his PhD in the Politics Department at Hull. He later went on to be Professor of Politics at Southampton University, Master of St Catherine’s College, Oxford, and Professor of Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy at King’s College, London. He chaired the Labour Party’s Commission on Electoral Systems under Neil Kinnock, producing the Plant Report.
I’m not sure which of you should get the prize on this occasion. Jonathan got all four names correct eventually, but Dave Briggs got in first with Lord Plant’s name. I think the prize (the kudos of winning) should be shared.