Parliament is advertising for a new Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod to replace Lieutenant General David Leakey, who is retiring.
Black Rod, who is The Queen’s representative in Parliament, is best known for his role during the State Opening of Parliament, where he knocks on the door of the House of Commons to summon MPs for the Queen’s Speech.
The successful candidate will be paid a salary of £93,000 per year and will be the Chief Gentleman Usher to the Sovereign and an officer of the Order of the Garter.
Black Rod manages toe day to day running of the House of Lords and Parliament’s ceremonial events. The job holder manages a team of 30 staff who deal with an array of tasks from security to media management.
Speaking exclusively to Royal Central earlier this year, the outgoing Black Rod, David Leakey, Explained how he was selected for the job.
He said: “A panel went through the CVs and eight candidates were interviewed by a panel of peers. That long list of eight was reduced to a shortlist of two and we were interviewed by the party political leaders, the convener of the Crossbench Peers and the Lord Speaker. That panel selected somebody, that happened to be me, and made a recommendation to The Queen; it is The Queen who appoints Black Rod.”
The deadline to apply for the role of Black Rod is on October 10. Click here to be redirected to the vacancy page.
Ha! “It was only a joke…” Typical excuse when someone is called out for making egregiously inaccurate statements based on resentment and envy.