This is the latest publication from a firm engaged in the rather crowded field of official information. It “aims to make the House of Lords more accessible” by providing information on its workings and information about over 750 active peers. It is not exactly clear what readership is aimed at, but from some of the information given it appears to be intended for lobbyists and the business market.
The first part is an introduction to the House of Lords. Its structure, procedure and history are briefly outlined. There is also a very interesting short section on various proposals for reforming the Lords. This is likely to become more topical, rather than less. The membership of Lords Committees is also given. The recent general election renders this part out of date. All information is current to October 1996. I am a little surprised that the publishers went ahead and issued something that was certain to be out of date before 1997 was halfway through. The material in this section is presented very clearly and accessibly.
The second, and more substantial part consists of “Lords’ CVs in alphabetical order”. CVs are precisely what these entries are. Dates of birth, details of career, party affiliation, parliamentary and leisure interests and addresses are given. No details are supplied of education, family, other titles or of the age of the peerage. Separate sections at the end list directorships held, languages spoken and books written by peers. Potential lobbyists may find it useful to present information in this way, but it does make the individual entries incomplete. This biographical section has a major drawback. According to the introduction, in October 1996 there were 1,209 peers and they are all listed, but there are just over 750 biographies. This would not matter if the criteria for inclusion and exclusion were clearly set out. They are not, and I cannot work out what they are. By no means are all those included active peers. However, regular contributors to the House of Lords such as Lord Teviot and Lady Flather are left out. One Ulster Unionist peer is included, the other is not. The whole thing is rather bewildering.
There are one or two surprising omissions. Although publications by peers are extensively listed there is no guide to further reading. More oddly, for a work aimed at lobbyists, nothing is said about forms of address. In places more careful checking would have helped. On page 46 there is a reference to the “Roseberry Committee”. (The name is spelt correctly in the list of peers.) On page 90 adjacent columns refer to “Lord McIntosh of Haringey” and “Lord Mackintosh of Haringay”.
Clearly The Guide to the House of Lords is aimed at businesses wishing to target peers rather than libraries. However, I have to say that I do not think it represents very good value for money. Most of the same background information is in Dod’s Parliamentary Companion[1], although you may have to dig a little harder. Their biographical section is complete and the entries are more comprehensive. The Commons is covered as well. I find it difficult to see a large market for a somewhat selective guide to the House of Lords among libraries, although some businesses may find it useful.
