The History department was delighted to welcome the former trade unionist and politician Lord Clarke of Hampstead (Labour) to a very well-attended meeting of the Government and Politics Society at Queenswood on Tuesday 15 January. His informative lecture focused on the life of working peers and their role in the House of Lords, whilst examining the constitutional relationship between the Lords and the House of Commons, and exploring the extent to which membership of the House of Lords has been reformed in the past decade.  This was followed by a detailed question-and-answer session during which Lord Clarke tackled a variety of enquiries from his audience which ranged far and wide across the political issues of the day.  The meeting offered a fascinating insight into the work of peers in the House of Lords.  It also became clear that the second chamber plays an important role in the expert scrutiny of proposed legislation generated in the House of Commons.  It is this function which will ensure that the House of Lords remains firmly entrenched at the heart of the legislative process allowing it to play a central part in the operation of the British constitution for the foreseeable future.

We were most fortunate to have attracted a speaker with the wealth and depth of political experience offered by Lord Clarke.  A former telegraph boy and postman, Anthony James Clarke became a full-time official of the Union of Postal Workers (latterly the Union of Communication Workers) in 1979.  He edited the union journal and served as Deputy General Secretary of the Union of Communication Workers between 1981 and 1993.  In addition to his work as a trade unionist, he was active in party politics, serving as a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1993 and acting as Chairman between 1992 and 1993.  He was appointed to a life peerage as Baron Clarke of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden in 1998.