Author Archives: Andy Williamson

The UK general election and Lords of the Blog

12/04/2010 – 1:14 pm

Both Houses of Parliament dissolved on 12 April with the general election in the UK on 6 May.
We have been instructed by the House of Lords Administration that Lords of the Blog needs to observe the rules of purdah during the election period. We were hoping this would just mean careful management of content and [...]

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A Minister in the Lords

18/03/2010 – 11:18 am

Monday 15 March was a particularly busy day for me in the House. The day started with a question from Lord Pearson of Rannoch (the leader of UKIP) on whether the UK could be required to provide financial assistance to an EU Member State “threatened with severe difficulties”. After answering Lord Pearson’s tabled and supplementary question I had to field questions from other peers on the same subject for that part of the allocated 7½ minutes that remained outstanding. In practice I was let off rather lightly as a fair amount of time was taken up as peers endeavoured to establish their right to ask the next question on the subject. Eventually the Leader of the House, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, stepped in to provide much appreciated guidance. The questioning ended with Lord Tebbit asking me to confirm that I would forthright resign if any costs fell on the British taxpayer in respect of any bail-out of Greece. Lord Tebbit and Lord Pearson are both regular bloggers elsewhere.

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Help us to improve Lords of the Blog

26/02/2010 – 12:42 pm

We would really like to know what you think about Lords of the Blog and to understand how you think it could be improved.
To do this, we’ve asked an independent research agency, TNS-BMRB, to conduct some online research at the beginning of March. TNS-BMRB have set up an online space  where you can post comments [...]

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A new coat of paint

01/07/2009 – 10:08 am

You’ll notice today that the look and feel of the blog has changed. You’ll see a new, cleaner interface and some changes and improvements to the layout. These have been carried out by digital design agency Reading Room.
Just for today, however, you’ll have to bear with us as the implementation means things will move [...]

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Help us to evaluate Lords of the Blog!

24/07/2008 – 4:20 pm

Hansard Society
eDemocracy Programme

As Lord Norton mentioned yesterday, the House has now risen for summer recess. We’re expecting to see posts continue over the summer (although at a more sedate pace!), certainly a number of our contributors have already promised to write!
Lords of the Blog has been live since March and we’re about to start an [...]

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