Meeting of the new Parliament
It is anticipated that on Tuesday 17 December the House will meet at 2.30pm for a Royal Commission. When the House meets, and assuming the date of meeting above, the following arrangements will apply: The Commons will be summoned and directed to proceed to the choice of their Speaker and to present the person chosen for Her Majesty’s approval. The House will continue in session until 7.30pm in order to enable Members to take the Oath of Allegiance, or to affirm.
On Wednesday 18 December the House will meet at 2.30pm and it is expected that the Lords Commissioners will receive the Commons Speaker-elect. The House will remain sitting until 7.30pm, to enable Members to take the Oath.
Members attending the State Opening of Parliament must previously have taken the Oath. The Oath may not be taken in the morning of the State Opening.
Lord Ashton of Hyde
Biography
Lord Ashton of Hyde was appointed Lords Chief Whip (Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms) on 26 July 2019.
He was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from July 2016 to July 2019. He was previously appointed a Lord in Waiting (Whip) in the House of Lords in July 2014.
Education
He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford.
Political career
Lord Ashton was elected to the Lords as a hereditary Peer in 2011 and before joining the government was a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Arctic.
Career outside politics
He served in the Royal Hussars and the Royal Wessex Yeomanry. Prior to joining the government Lord Ashton was Chief Executive Officer of Faraday Underwriting Ltd and sat on the Council of Lloyd’s. He was a member of the Royal College of Defence Studies’ 2013/14 course.
Personal life
Lord Ashton is married with 4 daughters.
