Inside The Lords: the new kids on the block

Claire Fox reports from the first few days of a new parliament.

A new parliament means a new Inside The Lords. And the funny thing is, when it comes to the procedure of opening parliament, everything starts in the Lords - even though we have a parliamentary democracy. It’s like watching amateur dramatics with the mother and father of the house having to beg indulgence from the Lords. I think tradition is very important, but it does make me nervous that everything starts with the Lords, not to mention that the King must give permission for politics to begin. What was less fun to watch was swearing the oath - which was like being in a three-hour queue for the checkout.

There is a peculiar atmosphere in parliament as lots of former MPs have come in to pack up their offices, having lost their seats in the election, in contrast with a real energy among the new faces. When it comes to the new government, I’m feeling torn. On the one hand, the Labour Party won a huge parliamentary victory but a less impressive vote share, and I’m not confident in their outlook. But, on the other hand, I’m a citizen of this country and I’d quite like things to change for the better, so I do hope this government gets some things right.

One thing of note is that, despite making a lot of noise about abolishing or reforming the Lords, Keir Starmer’s first move was to appoint a load of external people to ministerial roles through the Lords. Richard Hermer KC is now attorney general - remember him as the guy who was involved in the legal case claiming that Israel is an ‘apartheid state’? Jacqui Smith has become minister of state in the Department for Education - remember her from the expenses scandal? Patrick Vallance has been appointed minister for science - remember him being pro-lockdowns?

There are some new face I like, however. For example, James Timpson, who has always been very interesting, is now minister for prisons, parole and probation. But the point is, the new government has hundreds of new MPs and yet is going outside the elected chamber to bolster the top table. This is a bad sign - it emulates Gordon Brown’s ‘Government of All the Talents’ and the Tories’ move to bring back David Cameron to be foreign secretary. This all makes me very nervous.

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Some better news from the Lords is that Lord Cashman will now be sitting as an independent, having had the Labour whip removed for his crass comments to Rosie Duffield. Well deserved. Even better than that is that the outgoing Conservative government has appointed Hilary Cass - author of the Cass Review - to the Lords, and I can’t wait.

I’m excited by the government’s focus on getting spades in the ground - the ‘build, build, build’ mentality is needed more than ever. But I want to say something about an appointment I’m particularly concerned about: Lisa Nandy as secretary of state for culture, media and sport. In a big interview this week, she announced that the ‘culture wars are over’. The implication is that the culture wars are confected, coming from someone who is about to be in charge of the arts, where censorship and toxic atmospheres have become the norm. From literary festivals losing their sponsorship and Waterstones staff throwing out books they don’t like, to sport - where the gender wars are stopping women from taking part in fair competitions - it’s clear there are big problems. We’ll see what she comes up with when the issues arise, but her initial unwillingness to confront the reality of the situation isn’t encouraging.

Esther McVey’s rather awkward stand against outward displays of political bias in parliament is long gone - the place is covered in rainbow lanyards. This is a weird contrast to some of the new MPs - such as the Reform crowd, who are critical of gender ideology, and the new pro-Gaza independents, who seem to at least be sympathetic to Islamist arguments. It’ll be a strange feeling in the Commons as parliament gets going.

Finally - my seating arrangements in the Lords have changed. I’m still sitting in the same place, but as I’m in the opposition benches, I will now be surrounded by Tories, not Labour Lords. I’m a non-affiliated peer in the House of Lords, and my job will remain the same: to represent views that otherwise wouldn’t be heard. And like I did with the last government, I will scrutinise and raise questions about everything I hear in the upper chamber.