Robert James Rogers, Baron Lisvane, , FLSW (born 5 February 1950) is a British

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

and retired public servant. He served as

Clerk of the House of Commons The clerk of the House of Commons is the chief executive of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and before 1707 in the House of Commons of England. The formal name for the position held by the Clerk of the House of Co ...

from October 2011 until August 2014. Following his elevation as a Life Peer in 2014, Lord Lisvane sits as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Constitution Reform Group (CRG), a cross-party organisation which is chaired by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury which seeks a new constitutional settlement in the UK by way of a new Act of Union. Lord Lisvane introduced the Act of Union Bill 2018 as a private member’s bill in the House of Lords on 9 October 2018, when it received a formal first reading. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

suggested that the issues addressed by the Bill were likely to become important in the 2019 Parliament.

Early life

Born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Rogers attended

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

before going to

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

, where he studied Old Norse, Old English, and medieval Welsh, as well as representing

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

, and

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

. He captained Lincoln College in the series of ''

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

'' broadcast in 1970, reaching the semi-final. He was a Rhodes Research Scholar in 1971 and worked briefly at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

before entering parliamentary service in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Parliament career

House of Commons

Rogers joined the House of Commons Service in 1972 and was involved in every aspect of the procedural and committee work of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

during his career, including postings as Clerk for

Private Members' Bills A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

, Clerk to the

Defence Select Committee The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated pu ...

, Clerk of the

European Scrutiny Committee The European Scrutiny Committee was a Select committee (United Kingdom), select committee of the British House of Commons, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Following Britain's withdrawal from the European Union in January ...

, Secretary of the House of Commons Commission, Clerk of Select Committees, Clerk of the Journals (2004–2005), Principal Clerk of the Table Office (2005–2006), and Clerk of Legislation (2006–2009). He was Clerk Assistant and Director General, Chamber and Committee Services from 2009 to 2011. He succeeded Sir Malcolm Jack as Clerk of the House of Commons on 1 October 2011. On 30 April 2014, Rogers announced his intention to retire at the end of August that year. At the date of his retirement he had served for over four decades in the House of Commons, including more than ten years as a Clerk at the Table.

House of Lords

On 21 October 2014, it was announced that Rogers was to be raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

, having been nominated personally by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

. He was created a

on 11 December 2014, taking the title Lord Lisvane, of Blakemere in the County of Herefordshire and of Lisvane in the City and County of Cardiff. Lord Lisvane sits in the

as a

. He made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 1 June 2015. He is a member of the House of Lords Committee on Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform, and of the

Ecclesiastical Committee The Ecclesiastical Committee is a statutory joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, created by the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 to review Church of England measures submitted to Parliament by the Legislative Commi ...

. He is an independent vice-president of the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local government in England, local authorities in England and Wales. Its core membership is made up of 317 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the ...

Personal life and other posts

Rogers has been independent chairman of local government standards committees, a police authority and a fire and rescue authority. He was Chairman of the

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Hereford and the principal church of the diocese of Hereford. The cathedral is a grade I listed building. A place of wors ...

Perpetual Trust and a member of the Cathedral Council (2007–09). In 2016 Lord Lisvane undertook an independent review to examine the functioning of the branches of Tynwald, the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

parliament, and to consider options for reform. On 22 January 2020, Lord Lisvane submitted a formal complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards against former Commons Speaker

John Bercow John Simon Bercow (; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Pa ...

. He is co-author of the standard textbook ''How Parliament Works'', as of 2018 in its eighth edition, and author of two parliamentary miscellanies: ''Order! Order!'' (2010) and ''Who Goes Home?'' (2012). He is married to Jane, who was ordained as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

on 30 June 2013 and as a priest on 27 September 2014; they have two daughters: Catherine, a solicitor, and Eleanor, who works in public health research. Jane was the High Sheriff of Herefordshire 2017–18. Lord Lisvane's recreations are sailing, shooting, cricket, music (he is a

church organ Carol Williams performing at the West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or mo ...

ist) and country pursuits.

Honours

Rogers was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(KCB) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for "parliamentary and public service". He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Herefordshire in April 2015. Rogers was elected to an honorary fellowship of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 2012, and as an honorary bencher of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 2013. He is also a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

, a liveryman and Past Master of the Skinners' Company. In October 2016, he was appointed to the ancient office of Chief Steward of the City of Hereford. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.

References

External links

''People of Today'' - Robert Rogers
Debretts {{DEFAULTSORT:Lisvane, Robert Rogers, Lord 1950 births Living people People educated at Tonbridge School People from Cardiff Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Clerks of the House of Commons Crossbench life peers Deputy lieutenants of Herefordshire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath English educators Life peers created by Elizabeth II English organists Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales