Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in the Labour cabinet from 1974 to 1979. She was one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981 and, at the time of her retirement from politics, was a Liberal Democrat.
Donald Michael Ellison Foster, Baron Foster of Bath, is a British politician and life peer who served as Government Deputy Chief Whip and Comptroller of the Household from 2013 to 2015. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath from 1992 to 2015.
Sir Rhodes Boyson was an English educator, author and Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament for Brent North. He was knighted and made a member of the Privy Council in 1987.
Sir Christopher Robert Chope is a British barrister and Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Christchurch (Dorset). Chope was first elected in 1983 for Southampton Itchen, but lost this seat in 1992 to Labour. He returned to Parliament in 1997 and has remained an MP ever since. A Brexit advocate, he has been supportive of Leave Means Leave, a Eurosceptic pressure group.
David Charles Waddington, Baron Waddington, was a British politician and barrister.
Joan Christabel Jill Knight, Baroness Knight of Collingtree, DBE is a former British Conservative Member of Parliament. She was created a life peer as "Baroness Knight of Collingtree, of Collingtree in the County of Northamptonshire" in 1997 after she had stood down at that year's general election, and retired from the House of Lords on 24 March 2016. She was appointed an MBE in 1964, and elevated to a DBE in 1985.
The Children Act 1989 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which allocates duties to local authorities, courts, parents, and other agencies in the United Kingdom, to ensure children are safeguarded and their welfare is promoted. It centres on the idea that children are best cared for within their own families; however, it also makes provisions for instances when parents and families do not co-operate with statutory bodies.
Edward Alfred Alexander Baldwin, 4th Earl Baldwin of Bewdley was a British educator, hereditary peer, and Crossbench member of the House of Lords.
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, a concept in the broader global context termed equal apportionment, in an attempt to equalise representation across the UK. It was associated with, but not part of, the Representation of the People Act 1884.
Caroline Anne Cox, Baroness Cox, FRCN is a cross-bench member of the British House of Lords. She is also the founder of an organisation called Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART). Cox was created a Life Peer in 1982 and was a deputy speaker of the House of Lords from 1985 to 2005, as well as being a minister in government. She was also a Baroness-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth II. She was Founder Chancellor of Bournemouth University, Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University from 2006-2013, and is an Hon. Vice President of the Royal College of Nursing. She was a founder Trustee of MERLIN Medical Emergency Relief International.
Sir John Gordon Hannam is a British Conservative politician. He was the last Conservative MP for Exeter to date, from 1970 until his retirement in 1997.
Philip Norton, Baron Norton of Louth, FAcSS FRHistS Hon LLD, is an English author, academic and Conservative peer. He has been described as "the United Kingdom's greatest living expert on Parliament" and "a world authority on constitutional issues."
Frederick Alexander Macquisten KC was a British lawyer and politician. He was the son of Reverend Dr. Alexander Macquisten, the minister of Inverkip Parish Church.
A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in England and Wales that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted fees, some paid by the Local Education Authority and some by the parents of pupils; the amounts were set according to ability to pay. On average, the schools received just over half of their income from the state.
Samuel Phillip Gyimah is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Surrey from 2010 to 2019. First elected as a Conservative, Gyimah rebelled against the government to block a no-deal Brexit and had the Conservative whip removed in September 2019. He subsequently joined the Liberal Democrats and stood unsuccessfully for them in Kensington at the 2019 general election.
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that for the first time sets in legislation a default fixed election date for a general election to the Westminster parliament. Before the enactment of the Act elections were required by law to be held at least once every five years, but could be called earlier if the Prime Minister advised the monarch to exercise the royal prerogative to do so. Prime Ministers often employed this mechanism to call an election before the end of the five-year term, sometimes fairly early in it, and some critics saw this as giving an unfair advantage to an incumbent Prime Minister. An election could also take place following a vote of no confidence in the government: such a motion would be passed with an ordinary simple majority of those voting in the House of Commons and would, according to constitutional convention, force the government to resign, at which point the Prime Minister would generally advise the monarch to call for a new election.
Simone Jari Finn, Baroness Finn is a businesswoman and British Conservative politician who has been the Downing Street Deputy Chief of Staff since February 2021.
A State Opening of Parliament took place on 11 May 2021. Queen Elizabeth II opened the second session of the 2019 Parliament with the traditional Queen's Speech. The event was significant as it involved many restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
The Higher Education Bill is a proposed Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that would impose requirements for universities and students' unions to protect freedom of speech. The legislation would allow speakers to seek compensation for no-platforming through a new statutory tort, empower the Office for Students to levy fines on infringing institutions, and establish a new ombudsman or "free speech champion" charged with monitoring cases of no-platforming and academic dismissals. These measures are intended to protect academic staff, students, and visitors who advocate controversial viewpoints. Examples could include anti-vaccine, holocaust denial, antisemitism, or opposition to LGBT rights, but the Bill would prohibit denial of access to any premises of any higher education provider to any group or individual on the basis of their ideas, belief, or views, without any specification or qualification.
