I welcomed one of our grand prize-winners and his family to the Lords this week. I hope to have the opportunity to welcome others in the new year. This week’s quiz focuses on minor parties in the House. Media attention tends to be devoted to the main parties and the cross-benchers. As usual, the first two readers to supply the correct answers will be the winners.
1. On which benches do UKIP peers sit?
2. How many members of minor parties in the House have previously been leaders of their party?
3. Who is the only Democratic Unionist Peer (DUP) not to have sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly?
1. UKIP peers sit on the Labour benches in the House
2. Two: Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Lord Bannside
3. Baroness Paisley of St George’s
I should clarify in my answer to question one that before the last general election the UKIP peers sat on the Conservative benches, so they seem sit with the main opposition party in the chamber.
Opposition, Labour. The same place they sat when the Conservatives were in opposition (and, presumably, where they sat when they themselves were Conservatives in Opposition)
Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Ukip), Lord Bannside(DUP), Lord Trimble (UUP/Con), Lord Alderdirce(All/LD)
So 4. (excl. Sir Reg who isn’t a peer yet I believe)
3) Has me stumped. They all seem to’ve!
1. The opposition benches
2. 3. Lord Bannside,Lord Elis-Thomas and
Lord Pearson of Rannoch
3. Baroness Paisley of St George’s
Opps question 2 should be 5 I missed the UUP Peers; Lord Molyneaux and Lord Trimble
1. Opposition benches
2. Depends on who you count. Two definites: Lord Bannside and Lord Pearson of Rannoch. Lord Trimble is now a member of the Conservative Party, and Lord Elis-Thomas is officially a crossbencher.
3. Baroness Paisley of St George’s
1. It appears that the Lords rules require a certain minimum number to form a recognised group, so I would guess UKIP are on the cross benches. (I assume that answering ‘the red ones’ doesn’t count?)
2. Making the assumption that the minor parties are UKIP, UUP and DUP (independents, cross-benchers and non-affiliated), it comes down to Lords Bannside, Pearson and Rogan, which makes three. Other former leaders now appear to be affiliated to something other than their original party so I assume don’t count for this question. However, the minimum number rules from above might come into play given that the former Plaid Cymru leader Dafydd Wigley is now a life peer but will sit on the cross benches. Lord Trimble now claims a Conservative affiliation.
3. Baroness Paisley of St George
See,I couldn’t resist having another go…
1) The Opposition Benches, very back on the aisle near the Throne.
2) Lord Bannside and Lord Pearson of Rannoch, so two?
3) I have no idea – my best guess would be Baroness Paisley of St George’s, but I’m far from certain.
I was going to say Baroness Paisley of St George’s, but on checking on wikipedia it says “She was also elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1973 and the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in 1975, representing Belfast East both times.”
Had it been the Northern Ireland Parliament, naturally that wouldn’t have counted.
I was very gratified by the number and speed of responses. The answers are (a) The UKIP peers sit on the Opposition benches; (b) Lord Bannside and Lord Pearson. (Lord Rogan has been chair and president of the Ulster Unionist party and is leader of the Ulster Unionist peers in the Lords, but has not been party leader; Lord Elis-Thomas sits on the cross-benches and is not listed as a Plaid Cymru member; Lord Trimble and Lord Molyneaux, both former leaders of the UU party, sit respectively as a Conservative and a cross-bencher, and Lord Alderdice, who led the Alliance party, sits as a Liberal Democrat); and (3) Baroness Paisley of St George. As Chris K. points out, she was elected to the 1973 assembly, but she has not sat in the present Northern Ireland Assembly.
Michael is clearly a prize-winner. He was the first to respond and to do so with the correct answers. Being quite strict, the second prize-winner is Jonathan. One could argue that although Lord Elis-Thomas sits as a cross-bencher he is a member of a minor party (albeit not in the House) and therefore could be included, so Rob may have won with his first answer but then came in with additional names. (He might even have made it then, if one applies the same principle to Lord Molyneaux as in the case of Lord Elis-Thomas, but it was the inclusion of Lord Trimble that meant that Jonathan squeezed in to take the prize.) However, I think a commendation to everyone who contributed.