Barbara Castle was a formidable and feisty politician, both when she served in the Commons and also when she joined the Lords. (She was elevated to the peerage in 1990 when she was 80.) She was not afraid to speak her mind and that included when taking on her own Government. She also came out with…
I recently travelled with my son and daughter to see Aston Villa play at Villa Park. I am a Patron of Aston Villa Football Club and am passionately committed to football and helping all sport to thrive. My father was a professional cricketer and played for the Warwickshire Bears. However, I am disturbed by the…
Political students know how valuable the diaries of politicians can be, even if they have to be read with a large quantity of salt at the ready. If they are published shortly after the events described, when the players are still on the field, they are all the more intriguing … or possibly deceptive. In…
I switched on BBC1 this evening, too late for Panorama, and no sooner had I switched on than I saw a shot of Westminster. This was in a programme called New Tricks and it showed what purported to be a meeting with a Labour peer at the House of Lords. The programme-makers clearly have no knowledge…
Fox News has just asked me about my thoughts on Barack Obama’s prospects of becoming the first black President of America. I believe that a black American President is more likely to happen before a black Prime Minister in Britain. In American politics, individuals have a more prominent place than in the United Kingdom. Here,…
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…
The other day I had occasion to call in to my office on a Sunday evening; I came in to the Houses of Parliament via the only entrance open and cut through Westminster Hall. It was twilight, the immense Hall was absolutely deserted – just me and HISTORY. For the first time the impact of…
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 –…
