Why a row about wigs might fluster the Lords

Voting in the House of Lords: the clerks sit at the table in front of the Speaker

Is it the march of progress or the road to perdition?

For centuries, the clerks sitting at the table in the House of Lords have worn barrister-style wigs.

That tradition was suspended during the pandemic, and now, it seems, may be swept away altogether.

The reaction has been classic Lords. Pearls have been clutched and marmalade dropped, and a keen ear can detect rising murmurs of "steady on" and that most deadly accusation in the Upper House: of a lack of proper consultation.

News of the change came out in a written answer to a parliamentary question, and with the Lords in recess for the next two weeks, any backlash will develop behind the scenes.

But there are clearly some peers at least who think the wigs and the court dress worn by the clerks of the House add a necessary dignity to their proceedings, and that they, not officials, should decide if a centuries-old dress code is to be revised.

Cosmetic change?

When the Commons, similarly, ended the use of wigs back in 2017, Speaker Bercow put out a statement and there was an exchange of correspondence with the Procedure Committee, explaining the thinking behind the decision: they wanted to expand the number of clerks allowed to sit at the Commons table advising the Speaker, with the aim of having more women officials visible, and the women didn't want to wear (or share) wigs - although the main clerkly gripe was having to knot fiddly bow ties.

Similarly in the Lords, one benefit of the change is said to be visible modernisation (it's not so long ago their chamber would have featured clerks in barristers' wigs, the clerk of the Parliaments in a "bench wig" of the type worn by judges, and the Lord Chancellor resplendent in a full-bottomed wig).

But the counter argument is that this is mere cosmetic change, and that, at a time when the House has come under fire over bullying and sexual harassment, rather deeper reforms are needed.

The change seems to emanate from Simon Burton, the clerk of the Parliaments, the chief clerk of the Lords. But have the party leaders in the Lords, and the convenor of the crossbench (or independent) peers signed up?

Or indeed the Lord Speaker, Lord McFall, who, if this decision remains, would stand out as the most formally-dressed personage in the chamber?

In classic Lords fashion the whole issue may be resolved behind closed doors, but there might be some irritable exchanges, when their lordships return to their red benches on 11 October.