Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod

Overview

Black Rod is an officer of the English Order of the Garter, and is usually appointed Knight Bachelor if not already knighted. His deputy is the Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod. His black and silver staff of office is the "Black Rod" itself, after which he is named.

The current Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod is Lt Gen David Leakey CMG CBE.

He is de jure pointed by the Crown (the British monarch) and de facto Clerk of the Parliaments.

His job

He is responsible, as the representative of the Administration and Works Committee, for maintaining the buildings and services of the Palace of Westminster. Previous responsibilities for security have been passed to the Parliamentary Security Director.

1. responsibility as the usher and doorkeeper at meetings of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
2. the personal attendant of the Sovereign in the Lords
3. as secretary to the Great Chamberlain and as the Serjeant-at-arms and Keeper of the Doors of the House, in charge of the admission of strangers to the House of Lords.
4. Either Black Rod or his deputy, the Yeoman Usher, is required to be present when the House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament, is in session, and plays a role in the introduction of all new Lords Temporal in the House (but not of bishops as new Lords Spiritual).
5. arrest any Lord guilty of breach of privilege or other Parliamentary offence, such as contempt or disorder, or the disturbance of the House's proceedings. His equivalent in the House of Commons is the Serjeant at Arms.
6. Black Rod, along with his deputy, is responsible for organizing ceremonial events within the Palace of Westminster, providing leadership in guiding the significant logistics of running such events.

The Mace

In theory responsible for carrying The Mace into and out of the chamber for the Speaker of the House of Lords (formerly the Lord Chancellor, now the Lord Speaker), though this role is delegated to the Yeoman Usher and Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms, or on judicial occasions, to the Lord Speaker's deputy, the Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms. The mace was introduced in 1876.

State Opening of Parliament

Black Rod is best known for his part in the ceremonies surrounding the State Opening of Parliament and the Throne speech. He summons the Commons to attend the speech and leads them to the Lords. As part of the ritual, as Black Rod approaches the doors to the chamber of the House of Commons to make his summons, they are slammed in his face. This is to symbolize the Commons' independence of the Sovereign. Black Rod then strikes the door three times with his staff, and is then admitted and issues the summons of the monarch to attend.

This ritual is derived from the attempt by King Charles I to arrest the Five Members in 1642, in what was seen as a breach of the constitution. This and prior actions of the King led to the English Civil War. After that incident, the House of Commons has maintained its right to question the right of the monarch's representative to enter their chamber, although they cannot bar them from entering with lawful authority.

The Lancashire town

He is in no way related to either Blackrod railway station or the historic Blackrod town  it is in, in anay way whatsoever.

Sources

1. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Black_Rod
2. http://www.portcullis.parliament.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=Code==%27469%27
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackrod_railway_station
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackrod
5. http://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/principal/black-rod/