I'm back at Westminster (I normally work there Tuesdays to Thursdays - and yesterday was spent moving my daughter to her new flat in Milton Keynes). The House of Lords has seen a number of changes.The new Leader of the House is Baroness Royall, formerly the Chief Whip. Her deputy is one of my bosses, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (who is also Minister of State at the newly created Department for Energy and Climate Change and also DEFRA). The new Chief Whip is Lord Bassam of Brighton.
The Lords Whips Office now contains
- Lord Davies of Oldham - Deputy Chief Whip (his title is "Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeoman of the Guard")
- Lord Bach - also a junior minister in the Ministry of Justice (my other boss)
- Lord Brett (newly appointed)
- Lord Patel of Bradford (newly appointed)
- Lord Tunnicliffe
- Lord Young of Norwood Green (newly appointed)
- Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton
- Baroness Thornton
There will be a number of new Peers created, including Peter Mandelson, who is the new Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
A full list of the new Government can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/hmg.cfm#Depts
