Who was the last Prime Minister to spend most of his premiership on the benches in the House of Lords? It is a bit of a trick question. The answer is Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee (1945-51). The chamber of the House of Commons was destroyed by enemy bombing on 10 May 1941. The decision…
Much of the work of the House now takes place away from the chamber. The past thirty years have seen a significant growth in the number of select committees. The increase in the active membership of the House, with many of these members having expertise or experience in particular areas, has enabled the House to…
I promised, in response to a comment from Stuart in an earlier post (‘What’s in a name?’), to reproduce my coat of arms. So here it is. As explained in my response to Stuart’s query on the earlier post, the coat incorporates features to reflect my background (primarily Louth and Lincolnshire) and my particular academic interests…
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the Life Peerages Act 1958. There will be various events to mark the anniversary. Before 1958, the House was comprised primarily, though not exclusively, of hereditary peers. The exceptions were the Lords Spiritual and the law lords. The law lords were (under an Act of…
Following on from Lord Norton, my favourite Ministerial response is “As the noble Lord will recognise” which can mean “I’m desperately trying to remember my briefing note on this point, give me a second to collect my thoughts” or ” Come off it you idiot, you’re definitely wrong” depending on context. There are some long-serving…
