Since the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 was enacted, over eighty peers have utilised its provisions to retire from the House. This is now the most extensive route by which the House loses members. However, we still lose members through death. Last year, nine peers died. This year has seen a somewhat greater loss. …
The House of Lords has lost a number of members through death over the past few months. The Commons has also just lost a former senior member in the form of Sir Peter Tapsell. He was Father of the House of Commons from 2010 until his retirement in 2015 and came across as the grandest…
In a post on my blog a couple of years ago, I drew attention to the fact that some Baronesses who previously had been made Dames were still referred to on occasion by the BBC as Dames. Baroness Grey-Thompson, for example, was sometimes referred to as ‘Dame Tanni’ – this some years after her elevation to the peerage. This…
The House has just lost two senior members with the deaths of Lord Richard and Lord Crickhowell. Lord Richard (Ivor Richard) was a former Labour MP and UK Ambassador the UN. In the Lords, he served as Leader of the House after Labour’s return to power in 1997. He also chaired the Richard Commission on Welsh…
In a post on my blog, I have drawn attention to the report from the Procedure Committee which was agreed yesterday by the House. Part of the report was to inform the House that in future the names of Government Departments that failed to respond to reports from select committees within two months would be…
