Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)

My Lords, I am most grateful for these very flattering tributes from all the Front Benches. My father would have been astonished and my mother would have believed them. I am overwhelmed and slightly humbled, believe it or not—I do not know why noble Lords are all laughing—by the confidence and trust that have been put in me by those who supported my election. Not all noble Lords voted for me and, for those who did not vote for me, I would just like to say that I completely understand why. That is because I had in my opponent a formidable candidate and I echo all the words that have been said about the noble Baroness, Lady Bull. The Clerk of the House was very kind and told both of us the result on Friday, so we have had quite an interesting weekend trying not to tell anyone what was happening. I rang the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, and she has very kindly agreed to continue to support me as Deputy Speaker. We will work together to deliver what were so many common issues across the Benches—that you can be sure of. I am sorry we are not allowed to say anything at this stage about the Lord Speaker. I think he has done a brilliant job and it is a great privilege for me to have the opportunity to build on the great work that he has done on increasing accountability in the House and moving us forward. I look forward to serving all noble Lords, whether they voted for me or not, with pleasure, and I will try to avoid being political—which for people like me must be a bit like coming off heroin as an addict.