Last year, in order to mark the centenary of the passage of the Parliament Act 1911, the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, organised a series of lectures on great parliamentarians. Each was delivered by a parliamentarian and broadcast by BBC Parliament. I gave the lecture on Enoch Powell. At the end of the series,…
There are certain office holders who, on completion of office, are usually offered peerages. However, with one or two exceptions, such as former Prime Ministers, the offer is not guaranteed. Most former Cabinet ministers are usually offered peerages, but not all have been, or not all have accepted. There are several recent examples of former Cabinet…
I was giving evidence yesterday to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee in the Commons, alongside Lord Maclennan and MP Nick Raynsford, as part of the the committee’s inquiry into legislative standards. The committee is examining whether, among other things, a commitee on legislative standards should be established. I was keen to argue that such a…
I have made the point before that the House is much more than the chamber. The fact the House may not be sitting does not mean members are not getting on with work. Letters continue to flow in and so do e-mails, the latter nowadays more so than the former. Members continue to table questions. …
The Lords tends to get little attention in coverage of reshuffles. Baroness Warsi attracted coverage, but the other changes have hardly touched the radar. The House is now in the position of having only one member as a Cabinet minister (Lord Strathclyde as Leader of the House), though Baroness Warsi is one of nine ministers…
