Tag Archives: Bishops

The Lords Resume – and reforms

Lord Soley 11/10/2009 – 1:32 pm

Monday sees the return of Peers to the chamber of the House. The recess always leaves the House feeling a bit empty even if you do see Lords there from time to time - usually dealing with correspondence, using the library or having meetings of one type or another. We will be dealing with some final bits of legislation before hearing the Queen's speech in November. Baroness D'Souza and Baroness M […]

Dispatches from the chamber

Lord Norton 12/02/2009 – 12:25 pm

There have been two unusual features of the House this morning.  After Question Time, there was a Private Notice Question - in effect, an emergency question - on the Government's decision to ban the Dutch MP Geert Wilders from entering the UK.   The minister, Admiral Lord West, faced a series of critical questions, but did little more than say that he thought the Home Secretary's decision was c […]

Party strength

Lord Norton 24/11/2008 – 9:30 pm

The recent death of Conservative peer Lord Cuckney has meant that the Conservative strength in the House of Lords has now dipped below 200, leaving it with seven less seats than the cross-benchers.  According to the latest issue of The House Magazine, the composition of the House is now: Labour 214 Cross-benchers 206 Conservatives 199 Liberal Democrats 74 Bishops 26 UKIP 2 Others 11 On l […]

The Lords Spiritual

Lord Norton 19/04/2008 – 5:08 pm

 The House on Friday will be debating a motion moved by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  I am regularly asked about the role of the Bishops  in the House.  It clearly fascinates some people.  There is interest in what they do as well as what can and should be done about the representation of other faiths. There are 26 Lords Spiritual: the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of Durh […]