The Senior Deputy Speaker is an officer of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

whose main role is to preside over the House when it is in committee (i.e., considering a bill at

committee stage In the United Kingdom an act of Parliament is primary legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. An act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

), either in the Lords Chamber or in Grand Committee, which is when committee stage is taken away from the floor to free up debating time in the main Chamber. The Senior Deputy Speaker deputises for the

Lord Speaker The Lord Speaker is the presiding officer, chairman and highest authority of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the members ...

, and like the Lord Speaker withdraws from political party membership. Additionally, the Senior Deputy Speaker chairs various

select committees Select or SELECT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Select'' (album), an album by Kim Wilde * ''Select'' (magazine), a British music magazine * ''MTV Select'', a television program * ''Select Live'', New Zealand's C4 music program ...

of the House, and has a role in the administration of the House. The current incumbent, John Gardiner, Lord Gardiner of Kimble, took the office on 11 May 2021. Up until September 2016 the position was known as Chairman of Committees. The Senior Deputy Speaker is assisted by a panel of Deputy Chairmen of Committees. In addition to taking the chair in

Committee of the Whole House A committee of the whole is a meeting of a legislative or deliberative assembly using procedural rules that are based on those of a committee, except that in this case the committee includes all members of the assembly. As with other (standing) c ...

and Grand Committee, Deputy Chairmen are appointed from time-to-time to serve with the Chairman of Committees on unopposed bill committees, which scrutinise

private bill Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...

s against which no petitions have been lodged. Deputy Chairmen are, by practice, Deputy Speakers. In March 2020, the Lord Speaker, Lord Fowler, announced that, due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, he would be withdrawing from Westminster and leaving woolsack duties to his deputies. On Monday 23 March the house agreed to a motion that, until 21 July, any member could perform the deputy speakers' functions.

Panel of deputy chairmen

The following table lists the panel of Deputy Chairmen of Committees as of October 2022. Where applicable, a peer's concurrent term as a Deputy Speaker is also noted.

Chairmen of Committees

Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon (28 November 1661 – 31 March 1723), styled Viscount Cornbury between 1674 and 1709, was an English aristocrat and politician. Better known by his noble title Lord Cornbury, he was propelled into the forefr ...

, 1715–1723 * John West, 7th/16th Baron De La Warr, 1724–1733 *

Edward Rich, 8th Earl of Warwick Edward Henry Rich, 10th Baron Rich, 8th Earl of Warwick and 5th Earl of Holland (1695–1759), of Holland House, Kensington, Middlesex, was an English peer. Career Rich succeeded his second cousin Edward Rich, 7th Earl of Warwick, on his death ...

, 1733–1759 *

Hugh Willoughby, 15th Baron Willoughby of Parham Hugh, 15th Baron Willoughby of Parham (1713 – 17 January 1765) was an English nobleman and hereditary peer of the House of Lords. He was born in 1713, the eldest son of Charles Willoughby, 14th Baron Willoughby of Parham and Hester, daughter ...

, 1759–1765 *

Nathaniel Booth, 4th Baron Delamer Nathaniel Booth, 4th Baron Delamer (9 June 1709 – 9 January 1770) was an English peer who served as Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords from 1765. Family The 6th and eldest surviving son of Dr Robert Booth, Dean of Bristol, he ...

, 1765–1770 *

Edward Noel, 1st Viscount Wentworth Edward Noel, 1st Viscount Wentworth (30 August 1715 – 31 October 1774) was a British peer. Early life Edward Noel was born on 30 August 1715. Wentworth was the eldest son (of six sons and a daughter) of Sir Clobery Noel, 5th Baronet, of Kirkby ...

, 1770–1774 *

William Irby, 1st Baron Boston William Irby, 1st Baron Boston (8 March 1707 – 30 March 1775) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Life Irby was the son of Sir Edward Irby, 1st Baronet and inherited his father's baronetcy in 1718. On 26 August 1746, he married Al ...

, 1774–1775 *

Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale (1726 – 5 December 1804) of Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire was an English Tory politician and peer. Early life Curzon was the son of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet of Kedleston, and his wife Mary Assheton. ...

, 1775–1789 * William Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart, 1789–1794 *

Thomas de Grey, 2nd Baron Walsingham Thomas de Grey, 2nd Baron Walsingham PC (14 July 1748 – 16 January 1818), was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1781 when he succeeded to the peerage as Baron Walsingham. He served as Joint Postmaster General ...

, 1794–1814 *

Cropley Ashley-Cooper, 6th Earl of Shaftesbury Cropley Ashley-Cooper, 6th Earl of Shaftesbury Bt (21 December 1768 – 2 June 1851), styled The Honourable Cropley Ashley-Cooper until 1811, was a British politician. He was the father of the social reformer Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of ...

, 1814–1851 * John Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, 1851–1886 (created Earl of Redesdale, 1877) * Richard Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, 1886–1889 *

Albert Parker, 3rd Earl of Morley Albert Edmund Parker, 3rd Earl of Morley PC, DL, JP (11 June 1843 – 26 February 1905), styled Viscount Boringdon until 1864, was a British peer and Liberal, later Liberal Unionist politician. Background and education Morley was the son of ...

, 1889–1905 *

William Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow William Hillier Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow, (7 March 1853 – 23 October 1911), was a British Conservative politician. He held several governmental positions between 1880 and 1905 and was also Governor of New Zealand between 1889 and 1892. B ...

, 1905–1911 *

Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of Donoughmore Richard Walter John Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of Donoughmore (2 March 1875 – 19 October 1948), styled Viscount Suirdale until 1900, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Conservative politician. He served as Under-Secretary of State for War under Arthur ...

, 1911–1931 *

Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow Richard William Alan Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow (23 August 1876 – 9 June 1945), styled Viscount Cranley until 1911, was a British peer, diplomat, parliamentary secretary and government minister. Background and education Viscount Cranle ...

, 1931–1944 *

George Hamilton-Gordon, 2nd Baron Stanmore George Arthur Maurice Hamilton-Gordon, 2nd Baron Stanmore (3 January 1871 – 13 April 1957), was a British Liberal politician. Biography Stanmore was the only son of Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore, youngest son of Prime Minister G ...

, 1944–1946 *

Henry Moore, 10th Earl of Drogheda Henry Charles Ponsonby Moore, 10th Earl of Drogheda (21 April 1884 – 22 November 1957) was an Anglo-Irish civil servant, British Army officer, barrister and peer. He was the son of Ponsonby Moore, 9th Earl of Drogheda and Anne Tower Moir. He ...

, 1946–1957 * William Lewis, 3rd Baron Merthyr, 1957–1965 *

William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel William Francis Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel, (28 September 1906 – 12 March 1997), styled Viscount Ennismore between 1924 and 1931, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Labour politician. He was the last Secretary of State for India as well as the last ...

, 1965–1976 *

Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare Morys George Lyndhurst Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare, (16 June 1919 – 23 January 2005), was a Conservative politician, and from 1999 until his death, one of ninety-two elected hereditary peers in the British House of Lords. He was the eldest son ...

, 1976–1992 *

Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill Geoffrey Denis Erskine Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, (15 October 1921 – 23 April 2011), was a British hereditary peer and businessman, whose paternity and succession to the peerage were famously disputed in the " Ampthill baby case". His fath ...

, 1992–1994 *

Terence Boston, Baron Boston of Faversham Terence George Boston, Baron Boston of Faversham, (21 March 1930 – 23 July 2011) was a British Labour Party politician. Early life Boston was born on 21 March 1930, the son of George Boston and his wife Kate Boston (née Bellati). He was ed ...

, 1994–2000 *

John MacKay, Baron MacKay of Ardbrecknish John Jackson Mackay, Baron Mackay of Ardbrecknish (15 November 1938 – 21 February 2001) was a Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party politician. Early life Mackay was born in 1938, the son of Jackson and Jean Mackay, and was educated at C ...

, 2000–2001 *

Geoffrey Tordoff, Baron Tordoff Geoffrey Johnson Tordoff, Baron Tordoff (11 October 1928 – 22 June 2019) was a British businessman and politician. Biography The son of Stanley Acomb Tordoff, he was educated at Manchester Grammar School and the University of Manchester Instit ...

, 2001–2002 *

Ivon Moore-Brabazon, 3rd Baron Brabazon of Tara Ivon Anthony Moore-Brabazon, 3rd Baron Brabazon of Tara, (born 20 December 1946), is a British Conservative politician. Early life Lord Brabazon attended Harrow School. He married Harriet Frances de Courcy Hamilton in 1979, with whom he had a so ...

, 2002–2012 *

John Sewel, Baron Sewel John Buttifant Sewel, Baron Sewel (), CBE (born 15 January 1946), is a British politician, life peer, and former academic. He was the Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords, its deputy speaker. He is also a former senior vice principal ...

, 2012–2015 *

Herbert Laming, Baron Laming William Herbert Laming, Baron Laming, (born 19 July 1936) is a British social worker and member of the House of Lords. He served as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers from 2011 to 2015 and as Chairman of Committees from 2015 to 2016. Early lif ...

, 2015–2016

Senior Deputy Speakers

John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith John Francis McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith, (born 4 October 1944) is a Scottish politician, now the Lord Speaker having previously been Senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords from 1 September 2016 to 30 April 2021. He was previously a ...

, 2016–2021 *

John Gardiner, Baron Gardiner of Kimble :''See also Gerald Gardiner, Baron Gardiner'' John Gardiner, Baron Gardiner of Kimble (born 17 March 1956) is a British politician. He is a life peer, and has served as Senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords since May 2021. Early life, educ ...

, 2021–present

References

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External links

The records of Chairman of Committees are held by the UK Parliamentary Archives
Committees of the House of Lords