Sir David Beamish
Former Clerk of the Parliaments
Email: mail@davidbeamish.uk
Twitter: @clerkly
David Beamish was appointed an Honorary Senior Research Associate of the Constitution Unit in 2017 on his retirement after six years as Clerk of the Parliaments, the head of the House of Lords administration.
He joined the staff of the House of Lords in 1974 after completing a law degree and postgraduate degree at St John’s College, Cambridge.
From 1983 until 1986 he was seconded to the Cabinet Office as private secretary to the Leader of the House of Lords and Chief Whip.
He was joint editor, with Donald Shell, of The House of Lords at Work: a study of the 1988–89 session, published by Oxford University Press for the Study of Parliament Group.
Following his retirement he acted as an adviser to the Lord Speaker’s committee on the size of the House of Lords.
His other activities in retirement include acting as a trustee of the Hansard Society, the Friends of the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Dulwich Society. He is a member of the Southwark Diocesan Synod and the Southwark Diocesan Council of Trustees, and an Honorary Steward at Westminster Abbey. He maintains a list of peerage creations at www.peerages.uk.