James Visits the House of Lords

9.03.34am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 12th Nov 2007

James spent a day in the House of Lords on Monday 15th October 2007.

After being shown round the Lords James then attended a series of presentations by Lib Dem Peers, including Baroness Shirley Williams and Lord Wallace of Saltaire.

James said:

"I feel extremely privileged to have had a behind the scenes look at the way the House of Lords operates. The Liberal Democrats are setting set up a shadowing scheme whereby a small number of prospective parliamentary candidates are going to be twinned with an individual peer. The peer who has been chosen for me is Baroness Miller, the former Defra spokesman and now Home Affairs Spokesman. I bow have a direct line to the Lords to raise issues arising in the Skipton and Ripon Constituency.

I was in the Speaker's apartment when Sir Menzies Campbell made his announcement to stand down as Liberal Democrat leader. I have been fortunate enough to have met Menzies on quite a few occasions, the most memorable of which was when he invited me to tea at his office in the Commons. Menzies is a man of absolute integrity and honesty. Whilst his decision to stand down came as a shock it does not surprise me that he has put the party's interests above his own. It is typical of the man and a sign of true leadership. I am looking forward to an exciting leadership contest and continuing listening to and working hard for local people."