I’m posting the quiz slightly ahead of time again this week. I am in the middle of two days of intense interviewing for Thouron Scholarships, so it is a choice between posting the quiz this evening or tomorrow night. I thought I would make use of the Thouron scholarship as the basis for one of the questions, which this week are on Conservative peers.
1. I am not the only peer to have been a Thouron Scholar. Another Conservative peer, who has served in Downing Street, was a Thouron Scholar. Who is he?
2. Which Conservative peer was the first woman to serve as Vice-Chancellor of a British University?
3. Which member of the Opposition front bench was born in the Punjab in India?
4. Two former Cabinet ministers sit on the Opposition Front Bench. Who are they?
As usual, the first two readers to supply the correct answers will be the winners. Feel free to attempt one or more of the questions, even if you are not sure of the answers to all of them.
1 Foster of Thames bank?
2 Baroness Perry of Southwark
3. Baroness Flather
4. David,Lord Howell and the other bloke I know well too!
Other bloke…. Lord Fowler!
I win the prize! got ’em all right in two go’s!
3. The Baroness Warsi
1. Lord Blackwell
2. Baroness Perry of Southwark (Although with all due respect to Baroness Perry’s achievements, I have found through Google a similar claim being made for the historian Dame Lillian Penson, who was Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, 1948-51. The same claim is made for her in her article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).
3. Baroness Verma
4. Lord Hunt of Wirral and Lord Howell of Guildford
1. Lord Blackwell
2. Lady Perry (but I’m not sure I’ve got that right)
3. Lady Verma
4. Lords (and Davids) Howell and Hunt
1. Lord Blackwell
2. I am confused about this one. Lillian Penson seems to have been the first woman to serve as VC of a British university, having been appointed to the post at London University in 1948.
3. Baroness Verma
4. Lord Howell of Guildford & Lord Hunt of Wirral
3) Lady Verma
4) Howell of Guildford, Hunt of Wirral
As to the others …um….
1) Lord Blackwell
2) Baroness Park of Monmouth
3) Baroness Verma
4) Lord Glentoran & Lord Howell of Guildford
Hmm, actually I think Lord Hunt of Wirral is a better bet than Lord Glentoran.
I still don’t see how Lady Perry can have been the first in any sense, she became VC of South Bank Polytechnic in 1986, and continued on as it turned into a university, but in addition to Lillian Penson, Dame Rosemary Murray became VC of Cambridge in 1975.
The answers are indeed:
1. Lord Blackwell, who as a Thouron Scholar was at the University of Pennsylvania for part of the period I was there. He served in 10 Downing Street, under John Major, as Head of the PM’s Policy Unit.
2. Baroness Perry of Southwark, though the research that some of you have undertaken suggests the wording will need to be changed, perhaps to refer to a unitary rather than a college-based university.
3. Baroness Verma was born in the Punjab and serves as an Opposition whip.
4. Lord Hunt of the Wirral and Lord Howell of Guildford both served in Conservative Cabinets.
Congratulations to Michael and handj, who were the first respondents to supply the correct answers. They are this week’s prize winners. A commendation to Jana, who also supplied the correct answers as well as additional research.