Member

Regarding the other points made about the role of party leaders, everyone talks about prime ministerial appointments. In many ways, for other political parties the appointments go through the Prime Minister. Political parties are asked to nominate and then pass their nominations to the Prime Minister, who passes them on to the sovereign without comment. However, the Prime Minister makes very clear in his Written Statement that he expects the party leader to take full responsibility for properly considering the suitability and quality of the nominations. That includes the role that they intend to play in your Lordships’ House. It is unacceptable for party leaders to say, “It’s just an honour—you don’t have to turn up”. It should be a responsibility to play a role in the House. I come back to the point that party leaders are accountable to Parliament.