A State Opening tradition – the Select Vestries Bill

After the General Election of May 1997, once the Queen had delivered her Speech to the new Parliament and departed it fell to Lord Richard, as Labour’s freshly appointed Leader of the House of Lords, to move the first item of business.

He announced to the assembled Lords Spiritual and Temporal:

“My Lords, I beg to move that the Bill for better regulating Select Vestries be now read a first time. I am not sure why I am doing this, but I am.”

[HL Deb 14 May 1997 vol 580 c9]
2013 State opeing
The State Opening of Parliament

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