He stepped out on to the red carpet and progressed slowly along the wide corridor. Members of the House, door keepers and badge messengers stood to one side and bowed as he passed, not to him, but to the monarch he represented. He maintained a steady pace, which he had practised the day before when the House was not in session. Commander Orme had emphasized that he must be neither too fast nor too slow if he was to arrive in the Prince’s Chamber just moments before Big Ben struck twice.
As he proceeded down the north corridor, he could have been forgiven for wondering how many of his colleagues would be in the chamber to greet him when he took his seat on the Woolsack for the first time. Only then would he discover how his surprise appointment had been received by his fellow peers.
On a normal day, there would only have been a handful of members present. They would rise from their places as the Lord Chancellor entered the chamber, give a slight bow, and remain standing while his old friend, the Bishop of Bristol, conducted daily prayers.
He felt more and more nervous as he continued to place one foot in front of the other, and his heartbeat reached another level when he stepped on to the blue and gold carpet of the Prince’s Chamber with ninety seconds to spare. He turned right and made his way down the long red-carpeted corridor to the far end of the House, before he could finally make his entrance. As he reached the Members’ Lobby, in which the public were standing in silence, he heard Big Ben’s first chime echoing around the building.
On the second chime, two doormen in full morning dress pulled open the great doors of the chamber to allow the new Lord Chancellor to enter the Upper House. He tried not to smile when he saw what a theatre producer would have called a full house. In fact, several of his colleagues had had to stand in the aisles, while others sat on the steps of the throne.
Their lordships stood as one as he entered the chamber and greeted him with loud cries of ‘Hear, hear!’ and the traditional waving of order papers. Giles later told Freddie that his colleagues’ welcome was the greatest moment in his life.
‘Even better than escaping from the Germans?’
‘Just as terrifying,’ Giles admitted.
While the Bishop of Bristol conducted prayers, Giles glanced up at the Distinguished Strangers’ Gallery, to see his wife, son and oldest friend looking down at him. They couldn’t hide the pride they felt.
When the bishop had finally blessed his packed congregation, their lordships waited for the Lord Chancellor to take his place on the Woolsack for the first time, then resumed their seats once Giles had settled and arranged his robes. He couldn’t resist pausing for a moment before he nodded in the direction of the Rt Hon. the Baroness Clifton, to indicate that she could rise to answer the first question on the order paper.
Emma stood to address the House.
‘My lord chancellor,’ she began. ‘I know the whole House will want to join me in congratulating you on your appointment, and to wish you many happy years presiding over the business of the House.’
The cries of acclamation came from all sides of the chamber as Giles bowed to his sister.
Question number one.
Emma turned to face the cross benches.
‘I can assure the noble lord, Lord Preston, that the government is taking the threat of Aids most seriously. My department has set aside one hundred million pounds for research into this terrible disease, and we are sharing our findings with eminent scientists and leading medical practitioners around the globe in the hope of identifying a cure as quickly as possible. Indeed, I should add that I am travelling to Washington next week, where I will be meeting with the Surgeon General, and I can assure the House that the subject of Aids will be high on our agenda.’
An elderly gentleman seated on the back row of the cross benches stood to ask a supplementary question.
‘I am grateful for the minister’s reply, but may I ask how our hospitals are coping with the sudden influx of patients?’
Giles sat back and listened with interest to the way his sister dealt with every question that was thrown at her, recalling his own time on the front bench. Although there was the occasional hesitation, she no longer needed to constantly check the brief prepared by her civil servants. He was equally impressed that she now had total command of the House, something some ministers never mastered.
For the next forty minutes, Emma answered questions on subjects that ranged from cancer research funding, to assaults on A&E staff following football matches, to ambulance response times to emergency calls.