As a keen observer of life in the House of Lords, I feel it my duty to explore some of the less well-known aspects of life there. And, as a photograph has come into my hands that deserves a wider audience…

The life of the Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords is not altogether an easy one. Long days on the red benches, finding ways to whip the likes of Paddy Ashdown and Shirley Williams with little but loyalty and force of personality as tools at your disposal, require patience, tolerance and discipline.

But the job does come with one unusual distinction, in that the incumbent is also the Captain of the Queen’s Bodyguard of the Yeoman of the Guard, a post that dates back to 1485 and includes, amongst its past holders, Sir Walter Raleigh and one Sir Thomas Erskine. Sir Thomas went on to become the 1st Earl of Kellie, whose current successor sits on the Liberal Democrat benches at the 14th Earl of Mar and 16th Earl of Kellie.

There is, for State occasions, a uniform. I admit that I have never considered Dick in the context of ‘dashing’ before, but what do you think?…