I have been appointed to serve on the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill. (Lord Tyler is aonther member.) The Committee has to examine the draft Bill and report by mid-July. The Bill contains several provisions, covering the Civil Service, the role of the Attorney General, ratification of treaties, appointment of judges, and…
Who was the last Prime Minister to spend most of his premiership on the benches in the House of Lords? It is a bit of a trick question. The answer is Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee (1945-51). The chamber of the House of Commons was destroyed by enemy bombing on 10 May 1941. The decision…
Tomorrow (2 May) the House will not be sitting, but people will be sitting in the House. The UK Youth Parliament will be holding a number of debates in the chamber (only the second time the chamber has been used for a non-parliamentary function), with 300 young people from all over the UK taking part.…
Much of the work of the House now takes place away from the chamber. The past thirty years have seen a significant growth in the number of select committees. The increase in the active membership of the House, with many of these members having expertise or experience in particular areas, has enabled the House to…
Given Bedd Gelert’s comment on my post on the 1958 Life Peerages Act, I thought it may be helpful to identify the principal legislation that has shaped the House of Lords over the course of the past century. There are five key measures. The Parliament Act 1911 limited the ability of the House of Lords to veto…
