Black Rod

Retirement of Sarah Clarke and Introduction of Lieutenant General Edward Davis

My Lords, I have to acquaint the House that His Majesty has appointed Lieutenant General Ed Davis to be Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, in succession to Sarah Clarke, and that he is at the Door ready to receive your Lordships’ commands.

Hear, hear!

As we have done previously, the usual channels will make brief tributes to the retiring Black Rod. Sarah Clarke took up her appointment as Black Rod in February 2018, joining us directly from a position as championships director at Wimbledon. Her uniform here was definitely more formal attire, but who would have thought that managing Wimbledon and dealing with Centre Court personalities would be good training for her role here? It could be said that she went from tennis rallies at Wimbledon to ping-pong in the House of Lords.

Oh!

I liked it.

When the office of Black Rod was created in 1361, the decree stated that the post should be held by

“a gentleman famous in arms and in blood”,

a reference to the postholder being a man who had served in the military. Sarah Clarke made history as the first Lady Usher of the Black Rod.

On taking up her appointment, Sarah had rehearsals for the part of the role that the public and MPs will be most familiar with—having a door slammed in her face as part of the historic theatre of the State Opening. At her first rehearsal, she marched along to the Commons and walked straight in: they forgot to slam the door. At the second attempt, they remembered to slam the door, but the timing was not quite right and she was a hair’s breadth away from a broken nose. Sarah also believed that there should be a hard, robust knock on the door so that it could be heard in Central Lobby. The result was a rather stern email from the heritage team along the lines of, “Do not knock splinters off the door, please”.

Sarah’s tenure here since 2018 has been a momentous time in our nation’s history and she always discharged her duties with diligence, dedication, care and professionalism. In just under seven and a half years, she has led 252 Introductions to your Lordships’ House; there have been six State Openings and seven Prorogations. One of the highlights of our parliamentary calendar is a state visit and all of us know the huge logistical arrangements required behind the scenes. They are organised by Black Rod and her team to ensure a seamless visit. Sarah has overseen five state visits to this Palace, ensuring that visiting dignitaries enjoy the experience. Even on her final day in post, she was here to welcome President Macron.

However, it was Sarah’s leadership and calm professionalism, following the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II, when she worked tirelessly—literally around the clock—with the Royal Household to ensure that the lying-in-state and final journey of Her late Majesty reflected the mood and respect of the nation. Hundreds and thousands of members of the public walked through Westminster Hall to pay their final respects, and hundreds of millions watched on TV from all over the world. This would not have been possible without the fantastic support of the House staff, particularly the Yeoman Usher, Brigadier Neil Baverstock, and the Deputy Yeoman Usher, Fiona Channon. It is impossible to refer to that time without mentioning our excellent doorkeepers, many of whom became familiar faces when the lying-in-state was livestreamed on TV and proved to be most compulsive—and certainly most emotional —viewing.

It is a pleasure, on behalf of these Benches, to follow the Lord Privy Seal, who spoke beautifully for us all as our Leader in her generous tribute to our outgoing Black Rod, Sarah Clarke. I rather liked the joke; I wish I had thought of it myself.

By a curious coincidence, I found myself sitting last night in the evening sun watching Carlos Alcaraz display his dominance of Centre Court. As I looked round that historic arena, packed with 15,000 contented people—well, perhaps not quite so contented, because he was playing a British tennis player—I thought: who in their right mind would exchange that glorious theatre for a dingy 19th century building riddled with mice and moths? Who would swap Centre Court’s giant retractable roof, costing just £70 million—

Oh!

I had probably better not go on. But we all know who made that choice, and that was Sarah Clarke. How grateful we are that she did, despite the fact that she is well and truly in her right mind.

Sarah brought with her a wealth of logistical and managerial expertise when she accepted our offer to become the first Lady Usher of the Black Rod and the late Queen graciously confirmed that recommendation. She may not have been the conventional choice,

“famous in arms and blood”,

as the Leader of the House reminded us, but she was unquestionably the right choice.

Since Sarah took up her post in 2018, she has delivered on everything asked of her, and immeasurably more that no one ever asked her to do. As the Leader said, she has done it with calm authority and a sometimes wicked sense of humour. Her contribution to the life and functioning of this House was truly exceptional.

As the Leader told us, Sarah oversaw an extraordinary array of experiences during her time as Black Rod. My predecessor, the noble Baroness, Lady Evans of Bowes Park, particularly remembers that unique and challenging period during the Covid pandemic, when she and Sarah attended the House every day, Sarah armed with her measuring stick to keep us all two metres apart.

The organisation of everything was as swift as it was impeccable. I remember on 21 April 2020 becoming the first Minister ever to answer a Question virtually rather than at the Dispatch Box. I refreshed my memory last night and the very first virtual Question ever asked was about the size of our House and whether new life peerages should be on a two-out, one-in basis. Looking at today’s Marshalled List, I see the important amendment on Report from the noble Lord, Lord Burns, proposing a two-out, one-in system of appointments. I sometimes wonder whether in this House some things ever change.

Of course, they do, and often in unexpected, unseen ways. Always in what were historic years, Sarah was at the heart of things, managing subtle change and maintaining continuity. As noble Lords will be aware, I had the honour as Leader of working alongside her during some of the most significant and sensitive occasions in recent history, when the eyes of the country —indeed, the world, as the Leader said—were focused on events here in Parliament, not least the lying-in-state and state funeral of Her late Majesty. Sarah’s leadership then was in every sense impressive and indispensable. I can truthfully say that not a single foot was put wrong as those extraordinary, silent, never-ending, never to be forgotten queues filed past to pay their respects to the Queen—a moment of solemn national reflection quite impeccably staged.

Sarah’s work at that time showed how we can and always must act with unity and dignity in difficult times. Once again, as the Leader said, all she led and all she did was done with the utmost calmness and good humour. If I may add a final, personal note, I will never forget her own personal encouragement and kindness to me in what were often difficult and challenging duties as a very new Leader of your Lordships’ House.

As Sarah steps down, we warmly thank her for her trailblazing service, her lasting contributions and her personal warmth, good humour and unfailing attention to detail and duty. We wish her all the very best in her future role. For our part, we will miss her cruising the West Front corridor looking for the best snacks from the Whips’ Offices—always there for a flapjack, but never in a flap.

We thank you, Sarah. It is an unbelievably hard act to follow but, at the same time, we look forward with confidence to welcoming Lieutenant General Ed Davis as our new Black Rod, sure in the knowledge that he will build on the strong and sure foundation that Sarah Clarke laid.

My Lords, when Sarah Clarke first came to be interviewed to be David Leakey’s successor, the majority view of the panel—of which I was one—was one of curiosity, but no great expectation. How could someone who was non-military and, heaven forfend, a woman, and with no public sector background, possibly compete with her more traditional competitor candidates?

The interview, however, was a revelation. Sarah was calm, assured, thoughtful and humorous. We thought that she was the best candidate, but we were so surprised at our own conclusion that we invited her back for a second interview, just in case we had missed something the first time. But the second interview merely confirmed the first, and those characteristics which we saw in Sarah when she first appeared at the interview she brought to the job from day one.

Sarah immediately established a serene authority, and a sensible, no-nonsense approach which meant that she was quickly respected by the House as a whole—a respect which only grew as she managed the many quick changes which were required during Covid, and then, with such great aplomb, the great royal events which occurred during her watch.

Personally, I found Sarah simply a pleasure to work with. She is, I believe, taking a break before taking on other duties. I wish her well for the break, and for her future career, whatever it might be. In doing so, I welcome her successor. He has a hard act to follow, but I am sure that he will do it extremely well.