House of Lords Podcast: Lord Speaker's Corner
Mar 26, 2021 · 1 hr 3 min · 14 segments
This month we speak to two members about what inspires them, how they fight for change from inside the House of Lords and mobilising support for changes to draft laws. ‘I believe that anyone who has…
David AltonGuest
Helen NewloveGuestMattHostAmyHostHello and welcome to the March episode.
It's been quite a busy month here in the House of Lords, with changes to bills currently going through the House, as well as some staffing changes.
Yeah, that's right.
Simon Burton was announced as the new Clerk of Parliaments, and that was announced just before the last episode came out.
So what does the Clerk of the Parliaments do?
Well, the Clerk of the Parliaments is the most senior official in the House of Lords administration.
It's who we both work for, effectively.
The postholder is responsible for the management, administration and the finances of the Lords, and is also responsible in the Chamber during business.
effectively the Chief Procedural Officer to the House of Lords.
The Lord Speaker, Lord Fowler, announced that he'll be stepping down in late April, which started the process to elect a new Lord Speaker.
The election's currently underway, with three candidates having thrown their hat into the ring.
Matt, maybe you could explain a little bit more about the role of the Lord Speaker.
The Lord Speaker oversees proceedings in the Chamber of the House from the Walsack, as well as playing a key role in overseeing the work of the administration as Chair of the Lord's Commission.
We did speak to Lord Fowler in the first episode of the podcast, so you can hear more about the role now.
there.
Listeners might be interested in hearing a bit more
There are some videos and supporting statements on the website which are worth having a look at.
But in a nutshell, we've got Lord Auderdice, as you say.
He was once the Presiding Officer, so the Speaker for the Northern Ireland Assembly, and would become, I think, the first Speaker in either House to come from Northern Ireland.
He's a retired psychiatrist.
Then we have Baroness Hayter, who's been in the Lords since 2010, following her appointment as a Labour peer.
She's held various opposition front bench roles,
Hello and welcome to the March episode.
It's been quite a busy month here in the House of Lords, with changes to bills currently going through the House, as well as some staffing changes.
Yeah, that's right.
Simon Burton was announced as the new Clerk of Parliaments, and that was announced just before the last episode came out.
So what does the Clerk of the Parliaments do?
Well, the Clerk of the Parliaments is the most senior official in the House of Lords administration.
It's who we both work for, effectively.
The postholder is responsible for the management, administration and the finances of the Lords, and is also responsible in the Chamber during business.
effectively the Chief Procedural Officer to the House of Lords.
The Lord Speaker, Lord Fowler, announced that he'll be stepping down in late April, which started the process to elect a new Lord Speaker.
The election's currently underway, with three candidates having thrown their hat into the ring.
Matt, maybe you could explain a little bit more about the role of the Lord Speaker.
The Lord Speaker oversees proceedings in the Chamber of the House from the Walsack, as well as playing a key role in overseeing the work of the administration as Chair of the Lord's Commission.
We did speak to Lord Fowler in the first episode of the podcast, so you can hear more about the role now.
there.
Listeners might be interested in hearing a bit more
There are some videos and supporting statements on the website which are worth having a look at.
But in a nutshell, we've got Lord Auderdice, as you say.
He was once the Presiding Officer, so the Speaker for the Northern Ireland Assembly, and would become, I think, the first Speaker in either House to come from Northern Ireland.
He's a retired psychiatrist.
Then we have Baroness Hayter, who's been in the Lords since 2010, following her appointment as a Labour peer.
She's held various opposition front bench roles,
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
