Year 12 Politics Students Learn with a Lord

Year 12 Politics students had the unique opportunity this term to interview a member of the House of Lords from the Labour Party and ask him exactly what being a Lord involves. 

Baron Knight of Weymouth, who was made a life peer in 2010 after serving in Gordon Brown’s cabinet from 2009 to 2010, joined the class via Zoom to answer questions ranging from the functions of the Lords to his views on what could be done to encourage more young people to engage in politics. He spoke in detail about his views on reforming the House of Lords and his frustrations with the House of Lords receiving less press and public attention than the House of Commons. This was followed by a lively discussion around whether the Lords should be reformed further, scrapped completely, or remain as it is. This supported students with their studies in UK Government as they study the functions of the House of Lords in detail  at A-Level, and compare it with the power of the House of Commons.