House of Lords

  • Badenoch laments the hereditary exit from the Lords

    After the last embers of a wealthy partisanship in the House of Lords have died out, Kemi Badenoch MP (North West Essex/Conservatives) has come out swinging online for those that have now left its hallowed chamber, never to return, but with little reason to.

    “So today, as an era closes, I want to put on record my profound gratitude and admiration for our hereditary peers. Britain has been better governed because of them. The Conservative Party has been stronger because of them. And Parliament will be poorer without them.”

    – Kemi Badenoch MP/X

    Over centuries, these rarer folk have truly helped to define – along with their families – the way, the truth, and the life of the nation. It’s to be no more, now, but they’ll live, continuing their presence here, in a country that they helped to define, sustain, and probably fund.

  • Westminster Week: Outward focus

    Wednesday

    The Sudanese descent into civil war has taken up newsprint and also makes it into the Commons Chamber as part of an urgent question. Julian Lewis MP (New Forest East/Conservatives) asks if regional powers are likely to be able to intervene in the conflict. Hamish Falconer MP (Lincoln/Labour), a Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the FCDO, declines to answer for internal policy reasons. It’s another case of Parliament being looked to by the world for answers.

    The Royal Gallery in the Lords Chamber is a good way to scope out the work of the nations Upper House for the first time. The presence of school and college-aged groups is a boon for the fortunes of the House, in its relevance and ongoing work. It often finds out more than we expect, and knows more than we’re comfortable with. This makes it a valuable tool if not a resource for democracy in the UK.