Robert James Rogers, Baron Lisvane, KCB,DL, FLSW (born 5 February 1950) is a British life peer and retired public servant. He served as Clerk of the House of Commons from October 2011 until August 2014.[1]
Following his elevation as a Life Peer in 2014, Lord Lisvane sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords.
He is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Constitution Reform Group (CRG),[2] a cross-party organisation which is chaired by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury which seeks a new constitutional settlement in the UK by way of a new Act of Union.[3] Lord Lisvane introduced the Act of Union Bill 2018 as a private member’s bill in the House of Lords on 9 October 2018, when it received a formal first reading. The BBC suggested that the issues addressed by the Bill were likely to become important in the 2019 Parliament.[4]
On 30 April 2014, Rogers announced his intention to retire at the end of August that year.[10] At the date of his retirement he had served for over four decades in the House of Commons, including more than ten years as a Clerk at the Table.[11]
Rogers has been independent chairman of local government standards committees, a police authority and a fire and rescue authority. He was Chairman of the Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust and a member of the Cathedral Council (2007–09).[18] In 2016 Lord Lisvane undertook an independent review to examine the functioning of the branches of Tynwald, the Isle of Man parliament, and to consider options for reform.[19]
On 22 January 2020, Lord Lisvane submitted a formal complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards against former Commons Speaker John Bercow.[20]
He is co-author of the standard textbook How Parliament Works, as of 2018 in its eighth edition,[21] and author of two parliamentary miscellanies: Order! Order! (2010)[22] and Who Goes Home? (2012).[23]
He is married to Jane, who was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England on 30 June 2013[24] and as a priest on 27 September 2014;[25] they have two daughters: Catherine, a solicitor, and Eleanor, who works in public health research.[26] Jane was the High Sheriff of Herefordshire 2017–18.[27]
Lord Lisvane's recreations are sailing, shooting, cricket, music (he is a church organist) and country pursuits.[1]
