Peers often complain that MPs know very little about the Lords and rarely if ever bother to come along the corridor to observe what happens. However, in the past week, during our late-night discussions on the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, it has been notable how many MPs have popped along to watch what…
On Thursday, the House held a debate, initated by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, on the constitutional and parliamentary effects of coalition government. It was a useful, and a notably timely, debate. It was what is known as a set-piece debate: that is, one for which there is a speaker’s list. If you wish to speak, you…
The House is again in committee on the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. For the second time, the House took the unusual step of passing a closure motion to bring debate on one amendment to a close. The amendment was then defeated. The Opposition objected to the use of this exceptional procedure. However, the…
I did a few posts on my blog during the night as the marathon sitting on the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill was under way. The House sat from 2.30 p.m. yesterday to 12.53 today (Tuesday) and at one point took the exceptional step of passing a closure motion to bring debate on one amendment…
The successor to Michael Pownall as Clerk of the Parliaments has been announced. His successor will be the current Clerk Assistant, David Beamish. David Beamish is a great expert on the House of Lords. He also has the distinction of once having won the Mastermind contest.
