Jill Pay

Jill Pay
Serjeant at Arms
of the British House of Commons
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 January 2008
Speaker John Bercow
Michael Martin
Preceded by Peter Grant Peterkin
Personal details
Nationality British

Jill Pay is the current Serjeant at Arms in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.[1] Pay is the first woman to have held the position[2] Her appointment was unusual in that the position is one normally reserved for those with a military background. Pay is responsible for security in the House of Commons. She announced her retirement on 13 October 2011, effective 31 January 2012.[3]

Contents

Career

Pay replacing Major General Peter Grant Peterkin as Serjeant at Arms in 2008. She is a former civil servant who has formerly worked as a business manager. She has worked in Parliament since 1994 when her title was Head Office Keeper. She was appointed Deputy Serjeant at Arms in 2004.[4] Before she assumed the role of Serjeant at Arms, the role was downgraded, something with which the Queen was said to be unhappy. The position is a crown appointment. Pay was not granted an audience with the monarch, as is tradition.

Damien Green search

Main article: Damien Green#2008 arrest

In 2008, Pay became embroiled in political controversy when it was revealed she was the official who had consented to a police search on Damien Green's Commons office.[2] There was some suggestion that Pay was made a scapegoat in order to protect the reputation of the then Commons Speaker Michael Martin.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ UK Parliament "Serjeant at Arms". Parliament.uk. http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/principal/serjeant.cfm UK Parliament. Retrieved 3 July 2009. 
  2. ^ a b "Damian Green row: Profile of Jill Pay, serjeant at arms". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/dec/03/jill-pay-serjeant-at-arms. Retrieved 3 July 2009. 
  3. ^ Jill Pay (13 October 2011). "Retirement letter". Parliament.uk. http://www.parliament.uk/documents/speaker/saa-retirement-letter.pdf. 
  4. ^ a b "Damian Green affair: Profile of Jill Pay". The Telegraph. 3 December 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/3546250/Damian-Green-affair-Profile-of-Jill-Pay.html. Retrieved 3 July 2009. 
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Peter Grant Peterkin		 Serjeant at Arms of the British House of Commons Incumbent
House of Commons House of Lords
Speaker John Bercow Lord Speaker The Baroness D'Souza
Leader of the House of Commons Sir George Young, Bt. Leader of the House of Lords The Lord Strathclyde
Serjeant at Arms Jill Pay Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod Lt-Gen. David Leakey
Clerk of the House and Chief Executive Robert Rogers Clerk of the Parliaments David Beamish