Leader of the House of Lords

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Natalie Evans, Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

The office of Leader of the House of Lords (German "Führer des Oberhauses") is a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . The owner since 2016 is Natalie Evans, Baroness Evans of Bowes Park from the Conservative Party (German Conservative Party).

function

Since the position is not anchored in law and the incumbent is not officially appointed by the crown, it is linked to another. For this reason, the incumbents usually hold another position at the same time, nowadays usually Lord Privy Seal , Lord President of the Council or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster .

The office of the Leader of the House of Lords is assigned to the Cabinet Office . With the Leader of the House of Commons , there is a congruent position in the House , incumbent is there, as of November 2019 Jacob Rees-Mogg . Both offices are collectively referred to as Leader of the House . Although their owners do not belong to the cabinet , they still take part in its meetings. Although the Leader of the House of Lords are thus representatives of their party, they also have a responsibility to the House of Lords and represent it as a whole. While there is the role of Speaker of the House of Commons in the House of Commons , a Lord Speaker was elected for the first time in 2006 in the House of Lords . Until then, its tasks had also been taken over by the Leader of the House of Lords. When performing his duties, the Leader of the House of Lords also has a deputy. The current deputy (as of November 2019) is Frederick Curzon, 7th Earl Howe .

history

The British House of Lords

The name was established at the beginning of the 19th century , but the function is older and was first mentioned in 1689. Often the position had been held by a senior member of the government; when the Prime Minister sat in the House of Lords, he usually also assumed the role of Leader of the House of Lords. This was the case for the last time until 1902, when the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury was Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Leader of the House of Lords at the same time . If, on the other hand, the Prime Minister sat in the House of Commons, the position of Leader of the House of Lords was linked to another important office, usually the office of Foreign Minister. Due to the loss of importance of the House of Lords through the Parliament Act 1911 , the office has been linked since 1966 with one of the traditional, but now less important offices of the Great Officer of State . The first woman to hold the position of Leader of the House of Lords was Janet Young, Baroness Young from 1981 to 1983.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leader of the House in the UK Parliament's Glossary, accessed May 23, 2019
  2. ↑ Her Majesty's Government on the UK Government website, accessed May 23, 2019.
  3. ^ Robert Blake : The Conservative Party from Peel to Major. Faber and Faber, London 1997, p. 131.