Some of those attending the Workshop I have previously done a post on the Eighth Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians, held at Wroxton College at the end of July. As with previous workshops, it brought together MPs and researchers from a wide range of countries. Several members and officials attended from the Indonesian second…
The New Local Government Network has just published a paper arguing the case for an elected second chamber based on an analysis of the principal homes of the current members of the House. It argues that London and the Home Counties are disproportionately ‘represented’ while some parts of the UK have relatively few peers living…
Earlier this year, I was asked to do a post on the role of ministers in the Lords. Normally the number of ministers sitting in the Lords is just over twenty, representing approximately twenty per cent of ministers. They usually include two Cabinet members (the Leader of the House and now the Chief Whip –…
In a previous post, I mentioned the humour exihibited by Lord Hart of Chilton during his speech seconding the motion on the address at the start of the session. When he was made a peer, he was a special adviser to the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, and continued in that role for his successor, Lord…
Swiss Parliament When I was in Switzerland, I had the opportunity to visit the national Parliament and see their second chamber. Having a bicameral legislature is one of the few features of the constitutional system that Switzerland has in common with the UK. Otherwise, we are at different ends of the constitutional spectrum. Switzerland, as I…
