On October 28 The Times diary column included a light-hearted piece suggested by Alistair Lexden following the outbreak of clapping in the Lords two days earlier when the first female Bishop was introduced into the House (she is Bishop of Gloucester).
The diary story ran as follows: ‘The only previous applause that Lord Lexden can recall came in 1984, for Harold Macmillan’s maiden speech (“done with such noble restraint that the hard of hearing would scarcely have been aware it had occurred”), and last year when Patrick Jenkin retired. “If this becomes a habit,” Lexden says, “perhaps the SNP, who love clapping, will start to nominate representatives to join us”.