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Crossbench
A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and Opposition (parliamentary), opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber. United Kingdom Crossbench members of the British House of Lords are not aligned to any particular party. Until 2009, these included the Law Lords appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876. In addition, former Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speakers of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons (such as Michael Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, Lord Martin of Springburn and Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd) and former Lord Speakers of the House of Lords (such as Baroness Hayman and Baroness D'Souza), who by conv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frances D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza
Frances Gertrude Claire D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza, (''née'' Russell; born 18 April 1944) is a British scientist and politician. She held the office of Lord Speaker from 1 September 2011 to 31 August 2016. Early life, education and early career Frances Gertrude Claire Russell, the daughter of Robert Anthony Gilbert and Pauline (née Parmet) Russell, was educated at Princethorpe College, St Mary's School, Princethorpe, and went to University College London to read anthropology, graduating BSc in 1970. She subsequently undertook further study at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in 1976. She worked for the Nuffield Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition from 1973 to 1977, Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University) from 1977 to 1980, and was an independent research consultant for the United Nations from 1985 to 1988. From 1989 to 2002, she was the director of the human rights organization Article 19. As its representat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-affiliated Members Of The House Of Lords
Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords are peers who do not belong to any parliamentary group in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. They do not take a political party's whip, nor affiliate to the crossbench group, nor are they Lords Spiritual (active Church of England bishops). Formerly, the law lords were also a separate affiliation, but their successors ( justices of the Supreme Court), if peers, are disqualified from sitting in the Lords until they no longer hold a judicial position. Most non-party Lords Temporal The Lords Temporal are secular members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament. These can be either life peers or hereditary peers, although the hereditary right to sit in the House of Lords was abolished for all but n ... are crossbenchers. Peers may also be required to sit as non-affiliated while they hold certain senior positions within the Lords (e.g. the senior deputy speaker), as a means to preserve the neutrality o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Lords Appointments Commission
The House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) is an independent advisory non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom with oversight of some aspects of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It has two roles: to recommend at least two people a year for appointment as non-party-political life peers who sit on the crossbenches; and to vet for propriety most other nominations for membership of the House of Lords, including those nominated by the UK political parties, nominations put forward by the Prime Minister for ministerial appointment in the House of Lords, for public service, and nominations in the honours lists (including resignation and dissolution honours lists). The commission does not vet for propriety the appointments of Lords Spiritual (Church of England bishops), or the excepted hereditary peers who sit in the House of Lords by virtue of the House of Lords Act 1999. The commission was established in May 2000 to assist the transitional arrangements for reform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Hay, 16th Earl Of Kinnoull
Charles William Harley Hay, 16th Earl of Kinnoull (born 20 December 1962), styled Viscount Dupplin until 2013, is a Scottish hereditary peer and Crossbench member of the House of Lords, who serves as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers. Biography Viscount Dupplin was educated at Eton College and studied chemistry at Christ Church, Oxford. where he was an open scholar. A qualified barrister, called to the Bar in 1990 (Middle Temple) he worked for insurance provider Hiscox for 25 years. He also farms in Perthshire. He has been a member of The Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland (Royal Company of Archers) since 2000. He succeeded his father as Earl of Kinnoull following the latter's death on 7 June 2013. The Earl was elected to sit in the House of Lords at a crossbench hereditary peers' by-election on 4 February 2015, following the resignation of Lady Saltoun of Abernethy. On 19 March 2015, he made his maiden speech in the House of Lords on a report of the Science & Technology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Williamson, Baron Williamson Of Horton
David Francis Williamson, Baron Williamson of Horton (8 May 1934 – 30 August 2015) was a senior British and European civil servant, as well as a member of the House of Lords. Education and early life Williamson was educated at Tonbridge School and Exeter College, Oxford. He served in the Royal Signals 1956–58 as his national service. He married Patricia Smith in 1961; they had two sons. Civil service career Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food He began his civil service career in 1958 at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom), Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, becoming Principal Private Secretary to the minister in 1967. European Commission He was Deputy Director-General for Agriculture in the European Commission from 1977 to 1983 and Secretary-General of the European Commission from 1987 to 1997. From 1983 until 1987, Williamson had returned to the United Kingdom to serve as Deputy Secretary (civil service), Deputy Secretary an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Craig, Baron Craig Of Radley
Marshal of the Royal Air Force David Brownrigg Craig, Baron Craig of Radley, (born 17 September 1929) is a retired Royal Air Force officer and member of the House of Lords. He was a fast jet pilot in the 1950s, a squadron commander in the 1960s and a station commander in the 1970s. He served as Chief of the Air Staff during the late 1980s, when the Boeing Airborne early warning and control system was ordered and the European Fighter programme was being developed. He then served as Chief of the Defence Staff during the Gulf War. He was granted a life peerage as Baron Craig of Radley after his retirement from active service in 1991, sitting as a crossbencher. As of 2024, he is the last living officer in the British Armed Forces to have held a five-star rank whilst on active service. Early life The son of Major Francis Brownrigg Craig and his wife Olive Craig, Craig grew up in the Irish Free State, and was largely unaffected by the events of the Second World War.Probert, p. 95 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest extant institutions in the world, its origins lie in the early 11th century and the emergence of bicameralism in the 13th century. In contrast to the House of Commons, membership of the Lords is not generally acquired by Elections in the United Kingdom, election. Most members are Life peer, appointed for life, on either a political or non-political basis. House of Lords Act 1999, Hereditary membership was limited in 1999 to 92 List of excepted hereditary peers, excepted hereditary peers: 90 elected through By-elections to the House of Lords, internal by-elections, plus the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain as members Ex officio member, ''ex officio''. No members directly inherit their seats any longer. The House of Lords also includes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confidence And Supply
In parliamentary system, parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one or more parties or independent MPs on Motion of no confidence, confidence votes and Government budget, the state budget ("supply"). On issues other than those outlined in the confidence and supply agreement, non-government partners to the agreement are not bound to support the government on any given piece of legislation. A coalition government is a more formal arrangement than a confidence-and-supply agreement, in that members from junior parties (i.e., parties other than the largest) gain positions in the Cabinet (government), cabinet and Minister (government), ministerial roles, and are generally expected to hold the government Whip (politics), whip on passing legislation. Confidence In most parliamentary democracies, members of a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betty Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd (8 October 1929 – 26 February 2023), was a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich (UK Parliament constituency), West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, she served as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons from 1992 to 2000. She was previously a Deputy Speaker from 1987 to 1992. She was the first and , the only woman to serve as Speaker. Boothroyd later sat in the House of Lords as, in accordance with tradition, a crossbench peer. Early life Boothroyd was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, in 1929, as the only child of Ben Archibald Boothroyd (1886–1948) and his second wife Mary (''née'' Butterfield, 1901–1982), both textile workers. She was educated at council schools and went on to study at Dewsbury College of Commerce and Art (now Kirklees College). From 194 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernard Weatherill
Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, (25 November 1920 – 6 May 2007) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1983 and 1992. Background Born in Sunningdale in 1920, he was the son of Annie Gertrude () and Bernard Bruce Weatherill. He married Lyn Eatwell in 1949 and they had three children. Weatherill was known as "Jack", while his twin sister (baptismal name Margery) was called "Jill". Tailor After attending Malvern College, he was apprenticed at age 17 as a tailor to the family firm Bernard Weatherill Ltd, Sporting Tailors, later of 5 Savile Row. He became Director (1948), Managing Director (1958), and Chairman (1967) of the business. After it merged with Kilgour French & Stanbury Ltd., Tailors in 1969, he became Chairman of the combined firm. He resumed his role with the company after his retirement from the House of Commons in 1992, as president until the firm was acquired by others in 2003. Some of the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lords Spiritual
The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. Up to 26 of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not including retired bishops who sit by right of a peerage). The Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, and the Anglican churches in Wales and in Northern Ireland, which are no longer established churches, are not represented. The Lords Spiritual are distinct from the Lords Temporal, their secular counterparts who also sit in the House of Lords. Ranks and titles There are 42 dioceses in the Church of England, each led by a diocesan bishop. The archbishop of Canterbury and the archbishop of York, as Primate of All England and Primate of England, respectively, have oversight over their corresponding ecclesiastical provinces. The occupants of the five "great sees" – Canterbury, York, London, Durham and Winchester – are always Lords Spiritual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
