Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, I am delighted to lead the customary and important tradition of giving thanks to staff across the House, especially those who have retired this year, as we head towards the Christmas Recess. As 2025 draws an end, it is nice to have a moment to reflect on the excellent work of the House and the teams that support us. I hope that noble Lords will find this more jolly than my usual reminders about short questions and references to the Companion.
Before turning to individual tributes, I want to start by thanking all the staff across the House, a team of 700 strong, for their work. I will not attempt to name all teams, through fear of missing some that are equally as important, but the House simply would not function without the work of each and every one of the people who support us, and our vital scrutiny could not be done. I know I speak for the whole House when I say thank you for your hard work; we appreciate everything you do for us. We all have examples of staff going the extra mile in service of the House and showing us their unique kindness.
I now turn to some individual members of staff who have retired from the House this year. I will name a few, and my usual channels colleagues will name others when they speak.
First, I pay tribute to Carell Roberts, a valued member of the housekeeping team who retired in April. Carell worked in the team for just under 20 years and was involved in managing some high-profile and important areas, including the second-floor galleries above the Chamber. Carell also looked after a space much loved and used by noble Lords, the Library. Carell has retired to spend more time relaxing with family and friends, including much overseas travel. We wish her well.
Secondly, following the Library theme, I give thanks to Christine Martin, a senior Library assistant, who retired in July after 23 years. Christine started in 2002, looking after the main Palace Library suite, keeping it shipshape and tidy for Members, and ensuring they had newspapers to read—no mean feat when navigating the height of those Library ladders. In 2007, Christine was promoted to senior Library assistant and became the Library’s quartermaster. Christine had left a lasting impression on all colleagues with her calm demeanour, sense of humour, teamwork and kind counsel. Always ready to lend a hand in a crisis, her help was invaluable when the Library had a major flood in 2008 and during Covid when she was instrumental in keeping the Library running. We wish her a well-deserved and enjoyable retirement, attending to her garden and putting her feet up.
Next, I pay tribute to Gordon Rock, a senior doorkeeper who is due to leave us on 31 December. Gordon started work as a precision engineer toolmaker in 1977. He joined the Royal Marines in 1986 and served his country until 2008. He joined as a doorkeeper in 2012. Since his promotion to senior doorkeeper, he has enjoyed keeping everybody in step, including during the important state visits of President Macron, Prime Minister Trudeau and President Zelensky.
Although Gordon is not related to the noble Baroness, Lady Rock—I have checked that she is very happy for me to mention this—they have huge respect for each other. I am told by the doorkeeping team that he refers to her as “auntie”. A few years ago, I did the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme. Gordon came up to me and said, “I understand you’re going to a particular Army base at the weekend”. I said that I was. He said, “I’ve got lots of friends down there. I’ve given them a briefing and they’re all waiting for you”. I am pleased and very relieved to report that I had a wonderful time, and I wish Gordon a very restful and long retirement.
Finally, I must pay special thanks to Fiona Channon, who worked in the heart of government and Parliament for over 30 years, first in the Civil Service and, since 2019, as our much-loved, admired and respected Deputy Yeoman Usher. Throughout her roles in the Civil Service, Fiona worked with a number of colleagues, including my noble friends Lady Harman and Lady Jay of Paddington, alongside other noble Lords. Fiona went from the Civil Service to lead a number of important functions in the House of Commons, including as director of accommodation and logistics, a good training ground for the ceremonial wonders of your Lordships’ House. Fiona had an exceptional eye for detail and was instrumental in the delivery of a number of critical events, including the funeral of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth and the coronation of His Majesty King Charles. I am told that Fiona was able to enjoy over 1,000 sitting days in her time in the House of Lords and is well-known for her never-ending patience and calm manner in the face of a crisis and a long day. While Fiona was well acquainted with the building, I am told that, equally, the building wanted to give something back to Fiona, when she was attacked by a decapitated pigeon in State Officers Court near the Guy Fawkes plaque. Colleagues were able to rush to her rescue and lend her a shirt to enable her to continue her duties that day. I hope she will enjoy a slightly slower pace and a well-deserved actual rest without any pigeons.
In addition to individual members of staff, I thank all colleagues across the House for their good humour and support. I love the House very much and I am very privileged to be the Government Chief Whip and the Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms. I do my best to be accessible to everyone and be on hand to deal with issues as they arise. I thank all Members across the House for their friendly engagement with me throughout the year; I really appreciate that.
The House has reviewed 70 Bills this year alone and we always manage to debate topics, even the most difficult topics, with kindness and respect. This extends especially to my usual channel colleagues. While sometimes we have difficult conversations throughout the year—I am sure we have many more to look forward to next year—I appreciate their continued support and frank discussions. I have huge respect for the noble Baroness, Lady Williams of Trafford, the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham of Droxford, and the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull. We can usually smile and laugh in between more difficult conversations, and I count each of them as good friends. I hope we can continue to make progress together in guiding the House through its important work.
Finally, it seems a shame to waste the opportunity not to announce another recess date, as I fear colleagues are already getting anxious to book their Christmas holidays in 2026, perhaps even as a present for a loved one. I am therefore pleased to tell the House—with the usual, not very festive caveat that it is subject to the progress of business in the House—I intend for the House to rise for the Christmas Recess next year on Thursday 17 December 2026 and return on Tuesday 5 January 2027.
I hope colleagues will consider this a well-deserved Christmas gift, as I think it is important that noble Lords and staff have time to plan for activities with family and friends outside the House. I wish everyone across the House and all the teams so expertly supporting us a very Merry Christmas, a restful Recess and very happy new year. I look forward to seeing you all back on 5 January for a three-line Whip.
Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)
My Lords, sometimes in this House, it feels like our years should be measured in dog years, particularly when you are in opposition. As this year draws to a close, it is a pleasure to follow the Government Chief Whip in paying tribute to those who make the work of this House possible and who will be leaving us for pastures new.
Not only do all staff members play a crucial role in the operation of this House but their kindness and courtesy make for a welcoming place for all of us. Joao De Frietas, more affectionately known as Alberto, began his career just before the turn of this century in the Peers’ Dining Room. He soon became a familiar face, successfully going on to manage events in the Cholmondeley Room and the Terrace. Since 2018, he has been bar manager for the Woolsack, where he has been keeping morale high on the Parliamentary Estate. Throughout his time here, he was very well liked by his colleagues and regulars at the Woolsack. He will be much missed, and we wish him and his family very well for the future.
Neil Baverstock will be leaving Black Rod’s office this Christmas. For the past 12 years, he has been known for his unfailing dependability as the 23rd Yeoman Usher—the longest serving for 65 years. His sense of public duty, from when he trained at Sandhurst until now, is one from which we can all take inspiration. He has been a model of high standards, with a very cool head in challenging moments. I am told that his buzz-phrases are now a permanent part of parliamentary folklore. My favourite has to be, “My Lords, I’m going to run through the plan. I must be clear that this is a plan, not a discussion document”. He has certainly left his mark, being trusted with the Palace’s arrangements for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s lying in state and Operation Marquee. We know that behind every good man is a good woman, and we must thank his wife Alison for her support. This is a legacy of which they should both be proud, and they leave with our sincere gratitude.
Lord Stoneham of Droxford (LD)
My Lords, in continuing these staff tributes from the Liberal Democrat Benches, I want to talk about three individuals. First, Ola Diya was a valued member of the housekeeping team. She spent just under 20 years as an early housekeeper, starting in Millbank House with the cleaning contractors and then later transferring to the in-house team, cleaning high-profile areas of the House of Lords, including the first floor offices of the West Front, and covering duties in the Chamber and the Royal Gallery. Housekeepers are vital to the functioning of the House, and the House thanks Ola for her hard work over two decades. She retired in September to spend more time with her family overseas. We wish her all health and happiness.
Secondly, Nicholas Beach retired as deputy counsel to the Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords at the end of October, after a remarkable 40-year career as a lawyer in Whitehall and Westminster. Nick joined the counsel’s office in the House of Lords in 2010, with 25 years’ experience as a government lawyer in the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, the Department for Education, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. He came to us with a well-deserved reputation as a public law expert, with an enviable reputation as a drafter of statutory instruments. This expertise has been put to very effective use over the last 15 years, particularly in the House’s scrutiny of delegated powers in Bills and of statutory instruments.
The burden of scrutinising secondary legislation grew considerably during the Brexit and pandemic years. Nick rose admirably to the challenge, with quiet professionalism of the highest order, combined with his trademark patience and good humour. Nick also spent many years advising on the legal aspects of restoration and renewal. He assisted with the transfer of the Parliamentary Archives to the National Archives at Kew, and he advised the archives on the loan to Parliament, in 2015, of the four original copies of Magna Carta. Nick could always be relied upon to keep cool in a crisis, and this ability will be put to good use in his retirement. He hopes to become an expert ice cream maker as well as a cake baker. We wish him all the best in these ventures and all health and happiness in retirement.
Finally, Amanda McGrath is retiring on 31 December, after 13 years as a committee assistant and, later, a committee operations officer in the Lords Committee Office. During her career in the Lords, Amanda developed a specialism working for several sub-committees of the former European Union Committee, including the Home Affairs Sub-Committee, the Justice Sub-Committee, and the Security and Justice Sub-Committee. She has been a committee operations officer for the Justice and Home Affairs Committee since it was established in 2021, guiding it through several high-profile inquiries and handling a high volume of sensitive evidence. She has organised many committee visits, including the Justice and Home Affairs Committee visits to His Majesty’s Prisons Belmarsh and Isis—and getting the committee out again—the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel, and the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras. Before joining the Committee Office, Amanda was a civil servant in the Ministry of Defence. She is planning a number of projects in retirement and will spend more time travelling and at the theatre. We wish her all the best and all health and happiness.
I join in the tributes to my colleagues in the usual channels and the House at large. As we near the Christmas Recess, I take this opportunity from these Benches to wish everyone, Members and staff, a very happy Christmas, a good rest over the two and a half weeks and all the best for the new year.
The Earl of Kinnoull (CB)
My Lords, I associate myself with all the warm comments made by my fellow members of the usual channels about the staff of the House. I note the kindness, the courtesy and the huge help that those staff provide to Cross-Bench and all Members, and I am very grateful. Before I pay tribute to four very special colleagues, I reflect particularly on the moment in March of the confetti in the Chamber, when protesters interrupted our proceedings by throwing leaflets from the gallery. Our doorkeepers ushered them away, clutching as they were leaflets that called for “aristocrats out, nurses in”. I felt that my noble friend Lady Watkins came very close to declaring a conflict. But, thanks to the skill of the doorkeepers, we were back up and running in just four minutes. We owe a great debt and give great thanks to our doorkeepers, and their head doorkeeper John Ingram. I for one am very grateful for them.
My first tribute is to David Prior. David worked in the Parliamentary Archives, joining in April 1992 as the assistant clerk of the records, a role latterly not so snappily renamed head of public services and outreach. He has transformed the way in which our archives are presented to the public, through many exhibitions, large and small. He oversaw loans such as the Stamp Act 1765, which went to the USA; this was the legislation that gave rise to the cry, “No taxation without representation”, giving great succour to the independence movement over there. He arranged for the Articles of Union between England and Scotland, and the Act of Union 1707, to be displayed at the Scottish Parliament in 2007, which was the tercentenary. Most remarkably, David arranged for the four inward loans for the four surviving Magna Cartas, which were displayed in the Robing Room in February 2015, a task that others observed was more complex than organising a western Balkans conference. I have not mentioned his technological thrust in bringing the archive to our public, for which I hope he will forgive me. I thank him for all 33 years and wish him well.
Mary Nottingham and Mandy Marks retired as senior internal auditors in September. Mary and Mandy met when working for the Ministry of Defence internal audit department, and while Mary moved to the House some time before Mandy, the role they took on when Mandy arrived was quickly adapted so that they were a job share. They brought great audit experience to the Lords team, with humour and professionalism and no hint of sinister purpose, an approach that was much appreciated by all whom they worked with during their parliamentary careers. They were consummate team players. That is not to say they did not have strong opinions, as their colleagues recall: their head of section observed that they were masters of upwards management, always done with such charming subtlety that to this day he was never entirely sure whether he was managing them or they were managing him. I think we know the answer. Mary and Mandy will take their opinions on that question into a long and very well-earned retirement, which I understand will include visits to Cyprus, where they both used to own homes. They were wonderful colleagues and respected professionals, and we are all very grateful to them for their contribution to the House.
Finally, I pay tribute to one of our greatest generals in our longest-running war. I speak, of course, of the war against moth and mouse. Maureen Shoults led the early-morning sorties on the front line of the Principal Floor corridor for 27 years before retiring in November. She started as a housekeeper, was promoted to a team leader and latterly had a team of 15 housekeepers. Her particular personal theatre of battle was the bit of the Principal Floor corridor that included the Cross-Bench offices. While we try to lock away our admittedly plentiful rations of crumbly shortbread, we have been guilty of providing sustenance for the enemy. Despite this, and the early hour when I tended to run across her, she always greeted me and indeed all our staff and those who met her with a smile and a kind word. She will now spend more time with her children, Ben and Wayne, and her grandchildren, Finley and Fiona. We wish her all the best, and we will all keep fighting the great war on her behalf.
It remains only for me to thank my fellow usual channels. I cannot tell your Lordships how generous they are constantly to the Cross Bench in all sorts of little ways, and I and the Cross Bench are all very grateful to them. I have to say that it is very good fun in the usual channels. I would take issue about the biscuits, because there was a metre-long lot of biscuits with the Chief Whip—a lot of Jaffa cakes at one point—and we are hoping to get more of those in there. But it is in a great spirit that we try to make sure that things work in the House, and I pay tribute to them.
With that said, the only remaining thing is to wish, on behalf of our Benches, everybody, Members and staff, a very happy Christmas.
The Lord Bishop of Derby
My Lords, I shall not detain the House long, but on behalf of these Benches I echo the appreciative comments that we have just heard from the Front Benches about all those who have retired, or are about to retire, as colleagues, working alongside us here. It is a real privilege to have the final opportunity on behalf of us all in your Lordships’ House to thank those who work with us, both front of house and behind the scenes, for their outstanding care and service in keeping this House and our work here running smoothly.
As we near the end of this year’s journey through Advent and approach Christmas, I know that all Members will join me in wishing not just each other but all our colleagues here a restorative recess. I pray that they may know the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wise men, the obedience of Joseph and Mary, and the peace of the Christ child this Christmas. Happy Christmas, and a good New Year when it comes.