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Black Rod

My Lords, we are now here to pay tribute to the departing Black Rod, a sad occasion, because this Black Rod will be missed by the House, but an important occasion, too. The office of Black Rod is an important one for the realm, and when the holder of that office changes, it is an important moment for the House. Others will follow me with tributes specifically focusing on particular aspects of the job, as it has been defined, of the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, on security, for instance, or on ceremonial matters. I am convinced that my job today is more difficult than theirs, because it falls to me to give to the House a sense of what Black Rod is like—difficult, because he is so well known to all Members of the House that each individual Member will have a clear view of what Black Rod is like. As Black Rod, though a commanding figure, he has been assiduous in engaging with, communicating with, and talking to all Members on all sides of the House. He has seen, I believe, accessibility as a central part of his job. That may of course be because, as an old military man, Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Willcocks believes that it has been pretty well essential for him to know the lay of the land. It is as well, though, because he is a naturally gregarious and sociable man. Black Rod is a familiar figure to the House, whether swinging along Millbank of a morning, with his dog Sugar by his side, or in deep conversation in the Bishops’ Bar, or just being about the corridors of the House so that Members can tackle him on any issues of concern to them. In fact, so assiduous is he that I hope he will forgive me for revealing to the House his nickname in his old Army regiment, the Royal Horse Artillery. He was known, highly affectionately, after the old "Magic Roundabout" figure, as Zebedee—always bouncing about as if spring-loaded. To echo the noble Lord, Lord McNally, in his reply to the opening of the debate on the gracious Speech, "Boing!". Black Rod, too, is a familiar figure well beyond this House. Visiting a school recently, I was asking the pupils what they knew about Parliament. I talked a little about something that they may have witnessed on television—the State Opening of Parliament. What did they know about it? That was clear: "There’s a man with a stick, Miss, who bangs on the door three times every year. Miss, does he get paid for that job?". Now, we happen to know that there is, perhaps, a touch more to the job of Black Rod than that, yet it does portray that office as a key symbol of Parliament and a fixture in the public consciousness of what Parliament does. Sir Michael has taken very seriously, as is right, those aspects of his job—his role in Parliament and his role as a member of the Royal Household. He has never been stuffy, but he has always been serious: serious in what has been his role, serious in how he has gone about it, and serious in what he has accomplished for this House. There is, however, another side to Sir Michael—Mike to all who know him, although, as Leader, he and I both stick properly to our formal titles in dealing with each other, as he has quite rightly done with all my predecessors with whom he has so successfully worked in his eight years, all but a few weeks, in the role. He is, too, a well-spring of jokes and anecdotes. I shall not attempt to repeat any of them here, partly because I should pale in comparison to his own abilities, and partly because I do not have his particular skill of starting out with what looks likely to be an extraordinarily risqué joke that turns out, somehow magically, to be highly respectable. Although we are used to seeing him formally attired and properly dressed, it has not always been like that. He is remembered for the occasions when he left behind at home his ceremonial shoes, and had to process in a natty pair of leather loafers, and for when he left his tights behind—Ede & Ravenscroft 60 denier, I am told—although history, perhaps thankfully, does not record his strategies to mount a cover-up and spare his, and our, blushes. However, he has been unembarrassed in wanting to spread the word about what this House does; those skills will no doubt stand him in good stead when he moves to his new role with the Press Complaints Commission. As Black Rod, he has shown considerable leadership and prompted great loyalty among his staff. He may not always have agreed with the decisions taken by the House, but when he has not he has, despite his own views, as ever, enacted those decisions to the letter. He has, too, been a key member of the management team of the Lords. In particular, it falls to Black Rod to take on the highly unenviable task of arranging office accommodation for Peers, where his tact and skill in handling the difficult issues have been exemplary. His strategic work on accommodation, based around the planned island site for Lords offices, has been essential. I take this opportunity to pay special tribute to him for the way he has handled the number of particularly difficult issues on which we have worked since I became Leader of this House, including the matter of the police inquiries earlier this year. Throughout those difficult periods, Black Rod, again, acted with tact, skill and sensitivity, as well as the required robustness when necessary. In doing so—just as he did when, a few short months into his job, he had to deal with the security implications of the 9/11 terrorist attacks for this House and, indeed, for Parliament as a whole—he has acted and accomplished things for the benefit of this House, for the benefit of the Members of the House and for the benefit of the country as a whole. I welcome Lieutenant-General Sir Freddie Viggers as his successor as Black Rod, and Carl Woodall as Director of Facilities. I look forward to working closely with them both. I end, as I began, by thanking Black Rod for all that he has done for this House: for his courtesy, for his considerateness, for his care, for his attention, for his effort, and for his enthusiasm. We are all indebted to him, and we are all grateful.