The Lords has had some members who have not enhanced the reputation of the House – occasionally quite the reverse, as we know from recent history – but the membership is marked far more by those who have achieved notable distinctions, not only before but also during their time in the House. This quiz focuses…
I have been somewhat distracted by writing commitments, so apologies for the delay in setting the latest quiz. What I think will prove difficult questions do not always turn out to be that difficult for readers, whereas some I think are straightforward turn out to be problematic. This quiz question is, I think, a difficult one, but…
There are various well-known quotes about Parliament and about each House, though some of the quotations are not what they seem. Many people think the phrase ‘the mother of Parliaments’ refers to Parliament itself. Bright coined the phrase but he described England as the mother of Parliaments. This week, the quiz is on quotations. As…
I try to balance questions about the Lords (the chamber or its members) with more general questions about Parliament. I revert this week to a previous topic, that of Parliament and war. During the Second World War, both Houses continued to meet (despite a large number of members being away on active service), the parties…
The membership of the House of Lords was extended to women in 1958. This was forty years after women were able to be elected to the House of Commons. Today, the proportion of women in the Lords is the same as that in the Commons, though women tend to be more prominent in leadership positions…
