1 RT HON BARONESS ROYALL OF BLAISDON, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION, HOUSE OF LORDS

LORD STRATHCLYDE, LEADER OF THE HOUSE TUESDAY, JANUARY 8 2012

My Lords, in rising to lead our tributes today to the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, I am able to be the first formally to welcome as his successor the noble Lord, Lord Hill of Oareford. The noble Lord, Lord Hill, is already very well regarded and liked by this House, and I both welcome his very imaginative appointment and look forward to working with him closely in the future. But, my Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hill, has a very hard act to follow. The departure from the front bench of the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, is a moment of great significance for this House. We shall all miss him, and especially so at great occasions such as prorogation, though the Clerk not having to read out his full name Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Gailbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde - will mean that the prorogation ceremony will be a good deal shorter. My Lords, a former Member of this House, Lord Wilson of Rievaulx Harold Wilson as was once very acutely observed that a week is a long time in politics. Having done 25 years on the

Conservative frontbench, I calculate that the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, has done 1300 weeks in politics. Which is a very long time indeed. In that time, my Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, has covered the ground. He entered government in 1988, appointed by the noble Baroness, the now Lady Thatcher, as a junior whip in the old Department of Trade and Industry. There, as I understand it, he met a very young researcher from the Conservative Research Department called David Cameron, a contact which has clearly stood him in good stead since. Indeed, if my memory serves me correctly, when after the inconclusive result of the 2010 General Election, David Cameron entered a room full of journalists to make his big, open and comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats, slipping into the room with him the only person to do so was one Tom Strathclyde. So when the Prime Minister yesterday said in response to Lord Strathclydes resignation that to him personally he had always been a staunch friend and wise counsel, I suspect that was a heartfelt truth.

2 Im less confident about just how comfortable the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, has been with the results of that big, open and comprehensive offer that is, the coalition. When it was put to him on Channel4 News last night that he had been reported as saying he despaired that the coalition had broken down in the House of Lords he didnt quite knock the story down completely when he replied by saying: Im sure that at times over the last 18 months I may well have said that. Of course, one of the most difficult issues he has had to deal with since coming into government again in the coalition has been House of Lords reform, and in particular the exciting and very well thought-through proposals from his now ex-Cabinet colleague, the Deputy Prime Minister. Now Tom Strathclyde is of course a natural Lords reformer. He has shown nothing but utter loyalty to the Governments now-abandoned proposals for an all- or mainly-elected House of Lords. We on these benches of course completely believed him, and saw no signs at all of one of the biggest political winks in Parliamentary history. All I would report, my Lords, is the view of one member of this House this morning, from the noble Lords own benches, who said about the noble Lord and Lords reform: There were times when Toms tongue was so far in his cheek that it was almost coming out of his ear. My Lords, as it was once so brilliantly put by another of the noble Lords colleagues, the noble Lord, Lord Dobbs: they might very well say that. We on this side of the House could not possibly comment. My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, has had a very long and highly distinguished political career, with ministerial roles at the DTI, the Departments of Employment and Environment, and the Scottish Office, as well as serving as Government Chief Whip here in the Lords. The noble Lord was also Leader of the Opposition here in your Lordships House for an astonishing 14 years, serving four Leaders of his party in the Commons from 1998 until 2010, among the total of six Tory leaders he has served under. As Leader of the Opposition now in the Lords, I both admire and am staggered by his tenacity. That tenacity was signalled very early on in the political career of the noble Lord, when in 1983 he bravely stood in the Conservative interest as an MEP candidate in, of all places, Merseyside East. As natural a Scouser as he is a Lords reformer, sadly the noble Lord did not succeed on that occasion, though Im sure the European yearnings which this effort clearly showed will place him naturally in line with his mentor, the Prime Minister, when he makes his long-awaited speech on Europe shortly.

3 My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, both as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of his own party in government has always been a highly capable political operator. He has always been a straight dealer, and a man of his word. Even so, there have of course been difficult times. It really cant have been part of the coalitions plan for this House, with a huge inbuilt political majority for the coalition, that we on these benches and others have defeated the noble Lord and the Government so far 59 times since May 2010. If on occasion, this has led the noble Lord to be pretty robust in his dealings with the House, his own wit and charm and sometimes pretty old-fashioned bluster have more than got him through. My Lords, I would like to take a moment to say he has always been personally warm and friendly to me in our private dealings even when texting me to inform that the following days business was being pulled and I thank him now for his judgement, his trust, his confidences and his counsel. Amongst the most difficult times we have seen in recent years were the issues we faced over allowances and peers conduct. As Leaders, throughout that difficult period we both worked hard to make sure there was not the slenderest of cigarette papers between us in the service of the House, and he played a particularly important role, at a decisive moment, in getting the new allowances arrangements agreed. It is true, my Lords, that some of the noble Lords strongest fans have not always to have been found among some of my colleagues on these benches, especially when he has picked individuals up personally on points in the Chamber. But politics, my Lords, can be a rough old trade: and there can be no doubt that the noble Lord has served his beloved Conservative party well and loyally; that he has served in his public duties the people of this country well and loyally; and that in particular, now, I know that this House will want it said and it is rightly said that he has served this House well and loyally. My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, will be greatly missed. From these benches, we thank the noble Lord for all he has done. We wish him well for his new life in the future beyond frontbench politics. And we hope and look forward to his maintaining his strong and deep connections with your Lordships House from a different perspective to his extraordinary contribution from the front bench of a quarter of a century of dedicated service. ENDS