View Full Version : This has probably been discussed before, but why...
... do MPs insist on being called, and addressing each other as, the "Right Honourable" etc
Considering they are so often wrong*, and dishonourable.
* And yes, I acknowledge for the Grammar Nazis waiting in the wings, that "Right" in this context is an adverb meaning "To a great extent or degree". That stipulated, I prefer to take the advice of Lewis Carroll:
“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”
FJRider
5th July 2015, 19:41
... do MPs insist on being called, and addressing each other as, the "Right Honourable" etc
I don't think it's been discussed before ... for good reason ... :yes:
Only an idiot would ask the question ... :yes:
More web space wasted ... :yes:
I don't think it's been discussed before ... for good reason ... :yes:
Only an idiot would ask the question ... :yes:
More web space wasted ... :yes:
Are were almost out of web? ;)
Cheers
Pete
FJRider
5th July 2015, 20:16
Are were almost out of web? ;)
Cheers
Pete
Don't they sell it at the warehouse .. ?? :innocent:
Don't they sell it at the warehouse .. ?? :innocent:
Hope so!
Wouldn't want to run out would we.
Cheers
Pete
Akzle
5th July 2015, 20:33
fuken jews .
FJRider
5th July 2015, 20:34
Hope so!
Wouldn't want to run out would we.
Cheers
Pete
I'd better go buy some if there is a limited supply .. :whistle:
I don't think it's been discussed before ... for good reason ... :yes:
Only an idiot would ask the question ... :yes:
More web space wasted ... :yes:
Don't worry - I bought some more web space - so don't panic huh!
FJRider
5th July 2015, 20:48
Don't worry - I bought some more web space - so don't panic huh!
Get it while stocks last ... :shifty:
Get it while stocks last ... :shifty:
I did... and put it on your tab :motu:
We grow our own...
very industrious araneae... :facepalm:
Virago
5th July 2015, 21:30
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=right+honourable
Google still works.
HenryDorsetCase
5th July 2015, 22:39
OTOH I thought it was Munsters who were "Right" Honourable, and MP's were just "Honourable" but according to this Wikipedia article it originally was whether you were a Privy Councillor or not.
[quote="Wikipedia"]New Zealand
In New Zealand, the Prime Minister and some other senior cabinet ministers were customarily appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and thus styled The Right Honourable.[12][13] Senior New Zealand Judges are also often appointed as Privy Councillors.
In her resignation honours, the former prime minister Helen Clark did not recommend the appointment of any new Privy Councillors, and at present Winston Peters is the sole Privy Councillor in the New Zealand parliament. Privy Councillors recently retired from parliament include Clark, the former Speaker of the House Jonathan Hunt, and the former prime minister Jenny Shipley.[14] In 2009 it was announced that the new Prime Minister John Key had decided not to make any further recommendations to the Crown for appointments to the Privy Council.[15]
In August 2010, the Queen of New Zealand announced that, with immediate effect, individuals who hold, or have held, the following offices are awarded the style The Right Honourable for life:[12]
the Governor-General of New Zealand
the Prime Minister of New Zealand
the Chief Justice of New Zealand
the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
This change was made because the practice of appointing New Zealanders to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom had ceased. However, the change had little immediate effect, as all but two of the holders or living former holders of the offices granted the style had already been appointed to the Privy Council.[16]
The living New Zealanders holding the style "The Right Honourable" as a result of membership of the Privy Council are:
Sir Ronald Keith Davison (1978)—chief justice
Sir Ivor Lloyd Morgan Richardson (1978)—court of appeal justice
Sir Duncan Wallace McMullin (1980)—court of appeal justice
Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer (1985)—prime minister
Robert James Tizard (1985)—deputy prime minister
Sir (Johann) Thomas Eichelbaum (1989)—chief justice
Jonathan Lucas Hunt (1989)—cabinet minister
Sir Michael Hardie Boys (1989)—governor general
Helen Elizabeth Clark (1990)—prime minister
Michael Kenneth Moore (1990)—prime minister
James Brendan Bolger (1991)—prime minister
Sir Donald Charles McKinnon (1992)—deputy prime minister
Sir William Francis Birch (1992)—cabinet minister
Sir Thomas Munro Gault (1992)—supreme court justice
Sir John Steele Henry (1996)—court of appeal justice
Sir Edmund Walter Thomas (1996)—supreme court justice
Dame Jenny Shipley (1998)—prime minister
Winston Peters (1998)—deputy prime minister
Sir Douglas Arthur Montrose Graham (1998)—cabinet minister
Paul Clayton East (1998)—cabinet minister
Sir Kenneth James Keith (1998)—court of appeal justice
Sir Peter Blanchard (1998)—supreme court justice
Sir Andrew Patrick Charles Tipping (1998)—supreme court justice
Wyatt Beetham Creech (1998)—deputy prime minister
Dame Sian Seerpoohi Elias (1999)—chief justice
Simon David Upton (1999)—cabinet minister
The living New Zealanders holding the style "The Right Honourable" for life as a result of the 2010 changes are:
Sir Anand Satyanand (2010)—former Governor-General
John Key (2010)—Prime Minister
Sir Lockwood Smith (2010)—former Speaker of the House of Representatives
Sir Jerry Mateparae (2011)—Governor-General
David Carter (2012)—Speaker of the House of Representatives
United Kingdom
The following persons are entitled to the style in a personal capacity:
Peers who are earls,[17] viscounts,[18] or barons,[19] and their wives
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom[20][21]
Members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland[22]
The following persons are entitled to the style by virtue of their office. The style is added to the name of the office, not the name of the person, as for example "The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor of London".
The Lord Provosts of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The Lord Mayors of London, Cardiff, Belfast, and York
The Lord Lyon King of Arms
All other Lord Mayors are "The Right Worshipful"; other Lord Provosts do not use an honorific. By the 1920s, a number of cities, i.e. Leeds, were unofficially using the prefix "The Right Honourable" and the issue was thus consequently raised in Parliament. Interestingly, the Lord Mayor of Bristol still uses this prefix today without official sanction.[23][24] The Chairman of the London County Council (LCC) was granted the style in 1935 as part of the celebrations of the silver jubilee of George V.[25] The Chairman of the Greater London Council, the body that replaced the LCC in 1965, was similarly granted the prefix.[26] The office was abolished in 1986.
Privy Counsellors are appointed for life by the Monarch, on the advice of the Prime Minister. All members of the British Cabinet (which is technically a committee of the Privy Council) are appointed to the Privy Council, as well as some other senior ministers in the government and all leaders of the major political parties. The Privy Council of the day thus includes all current and former members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, with the exception of those who have resigned from the Privy Council. The First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also so appointed.
In order to differentiate peers who are Privy Counsellors from those who are not, sometimes the suffix "PC" is added after the name. This is not considered correct by A & C Black, publishers of Who's Who.[27] However, Debrett's recommends the use of the post-nominal letters "PC" in a social style of address for a peer who is a Privy Counsellor.[28][29]
Peers who are marquesses are styled "The Most Honourable", while dukes are styled "The Most Noble" or "His Grace". If such peers become Privy Counsellors, they retain their higher styles. Scottish feudal barons are styled "The Much Honoured". These prefixes are customarily abbreviated to "The" in many situations, but never for Privy Counsellors.[30][/uote]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_Honourable
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/about-parliament/how-parliament-works/procedures
The whole thing is fascinating. Basically it is a system that has been kludged together over hundreds of years then transplanted 13000 miles and still works pretty damn well.
One thing I would urge you: Learn and show the difference between respect for the person, and respect for the office. Because the office is important (I am using the word "office" here in the sense of "The role fulfilled in the democracy by this cog in the engine" not "oh look, you have a large physical space you must be imporatant"). Some of the people fulfilling various offices I would not piss on if they were on fire: for example the Hon Gerry Brownlee Minister of Earthquake Recovery. However, there does neeed to be a Minister of Earthquke Recovery because the second largest city in the country was completely devastated 4 1/2 years ago.
Silly Parliamentary shenanagins (and the fact that only the silliest are ever shown to the punters on the "news") don't help. the actual grunt work of Parliament is fascinating, byzantine, and done mainly out of the public eye.
We need to teach civics better-er in this country. And if you are in Wellington, and it's on, I thoroughly recommend a visit to and tour of, the (nay, your) Parliament.*
*Akz baby excepted as he is not a participant in the society governed by said Parliament. Sovereign citizen, flag fringes and Admiralty lor and all that stuff.
husaberg
5th July 2015, 22:42
love it...........
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/sebastian-goldberg/1a/b75/a04?trk=pub-pbmap
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.