LONDON, England the new leader of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom is on a quest to make the august upper chamber more reflective of the country, but he is well aware that he has his work cut out for him. Lord McFall of Alcluith (or John McFall), the newly elected Lord Speaker, wishes to reform the Lords' image as a distant and overstuffed anachronism. He aims to get their lordships closer to the people, in addition to reducing the scale of the ballooning legislature, which his predecessor attempted but failed to do. In a literal sense. McFall was fitted for black-and-gold ceremonial robes ahead of the practise run, which the speaker is required to wear for the day, which marks the beginning of the new legislative session. “At some of my previous employment, I was given a uniform to wear — a boiler suit, but nothing as elaborate as this,” he says. McFall, 78, is from Dumbarton on the River Clyde, which was once known for shipbuilding. He worked in a variety of jobs before becoming a member of parliament. He dropped out of school at the age of 15 and went on to work for the local parks department and in a factory before pursuing his dream of becoming a chemistry teacher.

He wants to take the chamber on a tour of the United Kingdom, similar to the world's biggest ageing rock band. In addition, he must guide the chamber through the difficult task of dismantling many of the remote-working practises that were appropriate during the COVID crisis while keeping the ones that have proven to be the most effective. But first, there was the usual pomp and circumstance to deal with. It's hard to imagine many occupations where the first week involves meeting Queen Elizabeth II. But this was McFall's first day on the job, as one of his first tasks was to take part in the state opening of parliament. Lord McFall of Alcluith wants to take the chamber on a tour of the United Kingdom. | AFP/Getty Images/Eddie Mulholland “Given all else that has been going on in her life,” he tells POLITICO, “it's fantastic that the queen is coming along.” “I have nothing but love for you.” Her first formal engagement since the death of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, was the state opening on Tuesday.

He spent 13 years as a teacher, the last three as a deputy head, which may have come in handy when he became a Labour MP and then the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee. He was in charge of hauling bankers and regulators over the coals during the 2008 financial crisis in that capacity. He first joined the Lords in 2010, a few months after resigning as an MP, and in 2016 he was promoted to senior deputy speaker of the Lords, a central position in the House's administration and oversight. The background helped him defeat Labour's Dianne Hayter, who was widely tipped to win the election last month. The lord speaker is a strange and often confused figure in the legislative process. The role was established less than 20 years ago to serve as a sort of emissary for the House of Lords, raising consciousness of its sometimes strange workings and ultimately taking responsibility for its management.

Unlike the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lords counterpart has no formal role in keeping order or serving as an umpire. The chamber takes pride in being "self-governing," and as a result, it is often much more disorderly than the House of Commons. It was not unusual for peers to be heard yelling over one another, refusing to sit down, or simply saying, “Too long!” if they thought another member had begun waffling during the four years of fractious debates on Brexit. Those days are gone, and there's no telling when they'll come back. COVID-19 put an end to the tradition of 500 colleagues, on average 70 years old, meeting every day in an overcrowded chamber to interrogate one another. One parliamentary official put it this way: "It's difficult to imagine a more ideally engineered super spreader environment." The House of Lords has adapted more vigorously than the House of Commons, according to others. The majority of contributions are now made through videoconference, voting is done electronically (unlike the Commons' short-lived experiment), and only 30 peers can attend in person at any given time. Is it possible that it will continue to be a work-from-home legislature? McFall says, “I will start from the presumption.... That it would have to get back to normal.” “There are a lot of things we miss. I’ve been very lucky and been able to work through the pandemic remotely but there just isn’t the same cut and thrust Chippings supplies near me.”