Historic firsts: female lord chancellor sworn in by lady chief justice

In an historic first, a lady chief justice swore in a female lord chancellor in a packed Court 4 at the Royal Courts of Justice this afternoon. 

Shabana Mahmood MP swore her oath on the Qur’an as Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill welcomed Mahmood as well as attorney general Richard Hermer KC and solicitor general Sarah Sackman MP to their roles.

Dame Sue Carr described Mahmood’s appointment as marking a ‘triple first’. She said: ‘I do not, of course, refer to you being the first lord chancellor to have been inspired to come to the law through watching John Thaw play Kavanagh QC. Your swearing-in is significant for far more substantive reasons.

‘It is so, not only because you are the first lord chancellor to swear their oath on the Qur’an, but also because today’s ceremony marks the first time that a lady chief justice has sworn in a female lord chancellor. Both of these firsts highlight how your office, our constitution in microcosm, continues to evolve and reflect the society which it serves.’

She described Mahmood’s ‘shrewd advocacy which bears results’ as well as her ‘deep knowledge of ethics, of professional ethics’ and a ‘commitment to helping others’.

She added: ‘I am confident that you will deploy all three qualities in the service of justice, not least in your efforts to secure funding for our courts and tribunals. ’I very much look forward to forging a stable, long-term partnership with you as lord chancellor within constitutional bounds, in the service of justice and the achievement of justice.’

Turning to the attorney general, Carr acknowledged the ‘mere youth’ of the role compared with that of lord lhancellor. ‘It is after all only 563 years since the title was first used to refer to the principal law officer for the Crown,’ she added.

Hermer’s ‘experience at the bar should well equip’ him to perform his ‘many duties both outside the courts and before them’, she said. 

The Lady Chief Justice noted another ‘possible’ first.  ‘It is quite possibly the first time that both law officers have hailed from the same [Matrix] chambers,’ she said.

Speaking of Sackman’s seminar at the LSE titled ‘Law and the City’ and eliciting a laugh from the audience, the lady chief justice said: ‘The title may perhaps pay tribute to a well-known American TV series. If so, I wonder if there is scope to draw on its sequel.

‘Why might that be? Well, you were first elected to parliament, as MP for Finchley and Golders Green, just over a week ago. “And just like that” you are here today taking your oath as solicitor general, your first ministerial office.’

Mahmood told the packed courtroom it was the ‘highest honour’ to be sworn in as lord chancellor. She said: ‘Once a little girl from Small Heath who worked behind the till at her parents’ corner shop [and] never dared to dream she would be sitting before you today counted among the holders of this role.

Being ‘first’ was a ‘privilege and also a burden’, Mahmood said.  She added: ‘Getting this wrong is not an option but getting this right can open doors. When I walked through the Ministry of Justice 10 days ago…I walked past my predecessors, the good, the bad and the ugly. They all looked alike and none looked like me.’

She told the gathered audience that she hoped her appointment helped show ‘a little girl in Small Heath, or wherever she may be, that even the oldest titles of the land are in reach for us all’.

Speeches were also heard from Hermer and Sackman as well as Law Society president Nick Emmerson and bar chair Sam Townend KC.