The wives of male peers are styled Ladies. The husbands of women peers receive no prefix. Now, with civil partnerships, Iain Dale has done a post on the question asked in a blogpost by Shane Greer of the Telegraph: ‘in the event that a member of a civil partnership becomes a Lord (or indeed a Lady), shouldn’t the other…
The House has acquired two new members. The House of Lords Appointments Commission published on Monday the names of two new cross-bench peers: Susan Campbell CBE, the Chair of UK Sport; she is also Chair of the Youth Sports Trust and has previously been British Colleges Pentathlon Champion. David Pannick QC, a barrister specialising in in public law,…
The events of recent days, with world financial turmoil, have rather borne out my earlier observations about the consequences of a long parliamentary recess. The US Congress has been at the centre of attention. Here, the Government has been able to act under legislation enacted earlier this year. Had that not been in place, then…
This is not so much about Westminster wit as about Westminster characters. In a post earlier this year, I asked if readers could name the three hereditary peers who sit in the House of Commons. Given the quality of our readership, the answer was provided very quickly by several people. I thought I would therefore…
As Baroness d’Souza touches upon in her earlier post, the original Parliament buildings, other than Westminster Hall, were destroyed by fire in 1834. In their place, a new Palace of Westminster, designed by Charles Barry, was constructed. There remains a fire risk, but in the history of the Palace that has not been the only challenge. In…
