Black Rod

Hi, I'm Ed. Ed Davis, Black Rod.

I've been Black Rod for, approaching ten months.

Started in July of last year.

I’m the 62nd Black Rod going back 665 years.

I suspect most people watching will have heard and probably seen Black Rod's banging on the door of the House of Commons.

It's a tradition that goes back 384 years to 1642, right at the outset of the English Civil War.

Effectively, King Charles I, at the beginning of that war, attempted to arrest five Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, which he failed to do.

But from that moment forward, the Monarch and his representative, who I am on behalf of the Lord Great Chamberlain, are not allowed to enter the House of Commons chamber without an invitation.

So, effectively, as I approach it, the door is slammed to recognise that principle and also to underscore the independence of the House of Commons. 

I knock on the door.

They recognise me.

I'm invited in.

And then I summon, on behalf of His Majesty, the Members of Parliament from the House of Commons up to the House of Lords, to listen to the King's Speech.

There's three aspects to Black Rod's role.

First of all, on a day to day basis, very much in the Serjeant at Arms function, I look after access, order, and conduct for the House of Lords, in support of the members and the staff.

The second role, which is right at the heart of the State Opening, is I lead on all state events for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords in terms of the planning within the Palace of Westminster.

And then finally, I have a supporting role in business continuity, and resilience of the House of Commons and the House of Lords across the parliamentary estate.

The Black Rod team is 30 people strong.

A large percentage of those are the doorkeepers, and effectively those very hardworking, very dedicated, very able members of the House of Lords staff sit right at the heart of the ceremonial that underpins the whole occasion of the State Opening of Parliament.

There's about five different areas of preparation.

The first is the physical preparations of the Palace of Westminster, which involves two things, in the main.

One is removing all the fencing. 

So His Majesty and Her Majesty can come in and take part in the ceremony.

The second is putting all the seating in for about 1,250 guests actually attend it.

So that's the physical bit.

The second bit is putting all the broadcasting infrastructure in, which allows us to broadcast it to the nation and beyond.

Thirdly, we have the ceremonial plan, which takes a lot of rehearsing.

In terms of the next one we have to focus on is the vehicle and people management plan.

And then finally, everything's underpinned by security.