Sir John Michael Davies, KCB

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 is the former Clerk of the Parliaments

Clerk of the Parliaments

The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position has existed since at least 1315, and duties include preparing the minutes of Lords proceedings, advising on proper parliamentary procedure and pronouncing the Royal Assent...

 of the United Kingdom. He succeeded Sir Michael Wheeler-Booth

Michael Wheeler-Booth

Sir Michael Addison John Wheeler-Booth KCB is a British public servant and former Clerk of the Parliaments.He was educated at Leighton Park School, Reading, and Magdalen College, Oxford....

 on 4 January 1997 and retired on 14 July 2003 succeeded by Paul Hayter. Sir Michael had overseen significant changes to the workings and Membership of the House of Lords related to the changes brought about by the passage of the House of Lords Act

House of Lords Act 1999

The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. The Act reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats;...

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Career

Sir Michael began his career at Westminster in 1964 and served in various roles before becoming Clerk of the Parliaments in 1997. He has served as the Private Secretary to the Government Chief Whip and Leader of the House when Lord Windlesham

David Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham

David James George Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham and Baron Hennessy, CVO, PC, FBA was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who held visiting professorships at various universities....

 held the position. He was also editor of the Journal of the Society of Commonwealth Clerks (called The Table), and was secretary of the Statute Law Committee, as well as Chair of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments.

House of Lords

Sir Michael was Clerk of the Parliaments at the time of the passage of the House of Lords Act, 1999 which required several administrative changes. In his address to the Chamber, on the retirement of Sir Michael, Lord Williams of Mostyn

Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn

Gareth Wyn Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn, PC, QC, was a Welsh barrister and Labour politician who was Leader of the House of Lords, Lord President of the Council and a member of the Cabinet at the time of his sudden death in 2003.Williams was born near Prestatyn, in North Wales, a son of...

 said that "[h]e oversaw the first change in administration in 18 years. He piloted the House through the passage of the House of Lords Bill and its subsequent implementation. He played an important part in devising a way of electing the elected hereditary Peers, including his wise suggestion that the Electoral Reform Society should be engaged." He was also the first Clerk to have relied on email and had a laptop at the table.

Family

Sir Michael is descended from a distinguished line of ancestors. His grandfather was a cleric in the Church of Wales and was one of the great antiquarians of Welsh history. His father was a distinguished member of the Indian Civil Service. His mother was a niece of the great Archbishop Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury. Sir Michael's great-grandfather, Frederick Temple, was the Archbishop of Canterbury at the turn of the century who, at the age of 81 in 1902, had the task of making the arrangements for the coronation of Edward VII

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

 the son of Queen Victoria

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

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