The recommendation that the posts of Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales be merged has variously been made, including by the Constitution Committee of the House of Lords in its 2003 report on Devolution: Inter-Institutional Relations in the United Kingdom. Apparently, it almost came about in the botched Cabinet changes of 2003. It is a proposal that continues to be made. However, the posts remain seperate and prompt this week’s quiz questions. As usual, the first two readers to supply the correct answers will be the winners.
Of the present members of the House of Lords:
1. How many have held the post of Secretary of State for Scotland? Who are they?
2. How many have held the post of Secretary of State for Wales? Who are they?
3. How many have held the post of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland? Who are they?
5) Reid of Cardowan, Forsyth of Drumlean, Lang of Monkton, Liddell of Coatdyke, Browne of Ladyton,
3) Morris of Aberavon, Crickhowell, Hunt of Wirral
8) Mason of Barnsley, Prior, Hurd of Westwell, King of Bridgwater, Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, Mayhew of Twysden, Mandelson, Reid of Cardowan,
1. 5
Lord Lang of Monkton
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean
Lord Reid of Cardowan
Lord Browne of Ladyton
Lady Liddell of Coatdyke
2. 3
Lord Morris of Aberavon
Lord Crickhowell
Lord Hunt of Wirral
3. 8
Lord Mason
Lord Prior
Lord Hurd of Westwell
Lord King of Bridgwater
Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville
Lord Mayhew of Twysden
Lord Mandelson
Lord Reid of Cardowan
Lord Norton,
I have been abstaining & in addition one does not comment on quizzes but here I have real insight. The UK should clearly have 2 such Secretaries: The SoS for Chelsea Nearest the Tube Station and the SoS for Elsewhere. The sooner this economy is effected the better off you lot will surely be.
Frank Wynerth Summers III: I think there is certainly a case for cutting down the number of posts. I chaired the Constitution Committee at the time it made the recommendation to merge the posts of Scottish and Welsh Secretaries.
Lord Norton,
I will not abandon my little joke as it would be unfair and unseemly. Clearly I am not even a subject or constituent, but my joke was meant to be a barb and I of course had not researched that it was yourself I was picking upon here. Inmportantly or not we agree on mnay things but consistently there is a unified field theory that unites the principles of federalism (no exact application in UK), subsidiarity, diversity and autonomy of locale for which I am more “pro” than your Lordship. Since my ancestors have spilled and shed rivers of blood for this principle I think I can bear the risk of being seen as either flippant or unkind. You surely know I think you are extraordinary in a good way regardless of where our convictions lead us….
1. Five. Quite a few new peers: Lord Browne of Ladyton, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke, Lord Reid of Cardowan, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, Lord Lang of Monkton
And not Viscount Younger of Leckie as I nearly said. It was his father!
2. Just three. Lord Hunt of Wirral, Lord Crickhowell, Lord Morris of Aberavon
3. Eight. Lord Mandelson (obviously!), Lord Reid of Cardowan (again), Lord Mayhew, Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, Lord King of Bridgwater, Lord Hurd of Westwell, Lord Prior, Lord Mason of Barnsley
Congratulations to Croft and JH who were the first two to reply with the correct answers. Commiserations to Jonathan, who also supplied the correct answers. As Jonathan notes, we have recently seen the introduction of three former Secretaries of State for Scotland; Lord Reid also appears again in the third category as a former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Given the number of Cabinet posts that were held by John Reid, it may be difficult to avoid having him as an answer if I pose any more questions on particular Cabinet posts held by peers. Indeed, asking which Cabinet posts were held by Lord Reid could constitute a question in itself!