Chapter Chat: Peerage would never have crossed my mind when I was growing up, says Lord Elliott

He said: “As a young person, as a farmer on the family farm, and as a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment, it never once crossed my mind that I would enter politics, and certainly not that I would end up as a peer in the House of Lords.”

Lord Elliott, who led the Ulster Unionist Party from 2010 to 2012, was given a life peerage after the dissolution of the last Parliament.

He said: “My life has taken a very different direction to what I had thought in my younger days.

“I didn’t seek the nomination to the Lords, which makes it feel somewhat better that others put me forward as a recipient.”

Lord Elliott has been a member of the Royal Black Institution for 33 years.

He joined in November 1991 and has held several posts, including county grand master of County Fermanagh Grand Black Chapter and imperial deputy grand master, before being appointed to the position of assistant sovereign grand master two years ago.

Sovereign Grand Master Rev William Anderson said Lord Elliott’s “work in our beloved institution was recognised when I appointed him in December 2022 as one of my assistant sovereign grand masters, a position he has fulfilled in his usual ineffable style, and he has now brought great credit on our institution with his appointment as a life peer in the House of Lords”.

Rev Anderson said: “Lord Elliott has not only provided excellent leadership across various levels of our institution but also the wider community as an elected member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, as well as a Member of Parliament from 2015 to 2017.”

He cited the new peer’s service as a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment from 1992 until 1999, and his role as chairman of Ballinamallard football club and a trustee of Ballinamallard Fisher Park.

He added: “Those of us that know Lord Elliott well as a colleague, a sir knight and friend know that this well-deserved appointment will not diminish his fervour to continue to serve his fellow man in whatever way he can and that he will remain true to his oath of allegiance, to his faith and to his membership of our loyal order.”

Lord Elliott, a member of many organisations, said: “I look upon the peerage as being recognition to them, as well as to me and my family, which of course includes the Royal Black Institution.

“When I was completing details of myself for the Lords, I ensured that I submitted all my specific interests, including that of the Royal Black Institution, and my position in the organisation required it to be recorded in the Members Register of Interests, which I was of course happy to do.”

Lord Elliott said he hoped it can “bring a positive element and recognition” to the institution, “given the proactive work that it carries out on a continual basis, which often goes without recognition” in wider society.

Married to Anne and with a daughter Chloe and son Adam, he said he and his family “feel very privileged and honoured”.

Asked if the House of Lords had lived up to his expectations, Lord Elliott said it was “a very different place to the other political institutions that I have served in, with much less interactive debate between individual members”.

He said: “It is more about detailed scrutiny of legislation and issues that come before it, rather than about the bigger picture principle of the matter at hand.

“The speaker of the Chamber takes no active part in the management of the debates; it is self-regulation, which takes more than a little getting used to.”

Lord Elliott said issues relating to agriculture “will receive a significant focus. I will continue to pursue issues of interest and significance to the farming and agri-food industry.

“Currently this is even more important with the difficult negotiations between the UK and EU on trade, animal movements and access to veterinary products.”

He is looking forward to adding his voice to matters such as Troubles legacy, funding to Northern Ireland, “and issues that have potential to strengthen or, alternatively, weaken the Christian ethos of society”.