Guido’s graduate training programme continues to bear fruit. Yesterday evening the new peer Ross Kempsell gave his first speech in the House of Lords. He was not long ago a reporter with good grammar and a nose for a story. He went from Guido to become TalkRadio’s political editor, then to Downing Street for SpAdding, with a sojourn at The Times, before heading over to CCHQ to again set the country’s news agenda through Conservative Research Department. He was valued highly by Boris Johnson for his loyalty and sharp mind…

Kempsell last night gave a sharp critique of the government’s poor use of evidence in government spending decisions – “the lacuna that lies at the heart of government intervention itself.” Ross then touched on the “decades of hard work and aspiration” of his forebears and adapted John Major’s favourite quote for the Lords: “What did a passion for policy and debate do for a boy from Stevenage? It would lead him to serve in your Lordships’ house, and that is where I intend to contribute diligently with the benefit of guidance of noble Lords, on the questions before us today, and I hope many more to come.” Hear, hear…