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Speaker's lectures 2013: Parliaments and Parliamentarians
The 2013 series of Speaker's lectures features Westminster parliamentarians and their experience of working in other parliaments and assemblies.
29 January 2013 - Lord Alderdice
Lord Alderdice, former speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly
The former Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly Lord Alderdice now sits in the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat peer, although formally represents the Alliance Party, the Northern Irish sister party of the Lib Dems.
The Alliance Party was formed in 1970 to provide an alternative to parties organised on sectarian grounds.
It currently has one MP and eight members at Stormont, and its current leader, David Ford, is the Justice Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.
22 February 2013 - Lord Steel
David Steel lecture
The former presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, Lord Steel, now sits as a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.
He was presiding officer from 1999-2003, the first person to hold the post.
Lord Steel was previously a Liberal, subsequently Liberal Democrat, MP and was the last leader of the Liberal Party before its merger with the SDP in 1988.
