New UK foreign secretary David Cameron will escape having to face regular grillings by MPs because of his position in the House of Lords.
Mr Cameron will not face the regular sessions of UK Foreign Office questions, with more junior ministers instead fielding questions in the Commons chamber.
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy criticised the situation, which will also mean that major statements are either made first in the Upper Chamber by Mr Cameron or by a less senior minister in the Commons.
David Cameron was a disastrous PM. This is a last gasp act of desperation from a government devoid of talent and ideas.
Amid international crisis, Sunak has chosen an unelected failure from the past who MPs cannot even hold to account.
Only Labour offers the change we need.— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) November 13, 2023
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Mr Lammy said that during an “international crisis”, Rishi Sunak “has chosen an unelected failure from the past who MPs cannot even hold to account”.
Mr Cameron will face questions from elected MPs only when he appears before select committees.
The Institute for Government’s senior researcher Dr Alice Lilly said it was “highly unusual” for secretaries of state to serve in the Lords – the last was Baroness Morgan as culture secretary as an interim measure in 2019-20 – and it is more than 40 years since a UK foreign secretary was in the upper chamber.
During Gordon Brown’s administration, Lord Mandelson served as business secretary and Lord Adonis as transport secretary.
“After Adonis and Mandelson, the Lords put in place procedures to ensure that Secretaries of State in the Lords would have to answer questions in the Lords in the same way that they would do in the Commons, so I expect that will happen again,” Dr Lilly said.
“And obviously there are plenty of other ministers in the Foreign Office who will be able to answer MPs’ questions, so it’s not like there will be nothing, but it won’t be direct from the Foreign Secretary.”
She added that the culture of the Lords is “very different” from the Commons.
“It tends to be less overtly political; getting the right tone matters. Scrutiny is often of a high quality, because of the range and amount of experience that many members of the Lords have.”
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he will “do everything” he can to ensure MPs can scrutinise the UK foreign secretary.
Making a statement to MPs, Mr Hoyle said: “This is not the first time in recent years that a Cabinet minister has been appointed in the House of Lords. But given the gravity of the current international situation, it is especially important that this House is able to scrutinise the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office effectively.
“I have therefore commissioned advice from the clerks about possible options for enhancing (scrutiny) of the work of the Foreign Secretary when that post is filled by a member of the other House.
“I also look forward to hearing the Government’s proposals on how the Foreign Secretary will be properly accountable to this House.”
