In the year that the House of Lords celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Life Peerages Act, and as part of the House's ongoing engagement and outreach initiatives, the new YouTube channel will attempt to reach out to young people and other audiences who may not be involved in politics or well informed about the role of Parliament.
The five videos aim to explain the role, impact and relevance of the House of Lords and encourage young people to get involved in politics.
The initiative follows the successful launch of the Lords of the Blog website (www.lordsoftheblog.net) and is another means by which the House of Lords is engaging with the public, and young people in particular, in ways that appeal to them.
The first five videos are:
* House of Lords: What's it all about?
* House of Lords: Fifty years of change - Life Peerages Act
* The Lord Speaker goes to school
* Why get into politics?
* Highlights of the United Kingdom Youth Parliament (UKYP) event
in the House of Lords
The videos will be officially launched and available for the public to view on YouTube from 13 June. Journalists can view the clips in advance of this under embargo (see Notes to Editors for details).
As well as the new YouTube channel and the Lords of the Blog website other recent House of Lords public engagement activities include the Peers in Schools programme, the Lord Speaker's educational outreach competitions and opening up the Lords Chamber to debates for young people including the UK Youth Parliament debates which were held in the House of Lords on 2 May. One of the five new videos now available on the Parliamentary YouTube channel is a short video with edited highlights of the event.
Commenting on the launch of the House of Lords YouTube videos The Lord Speaker, Baroness Hayman, said:
"The launch of the House of Lords videos on Parliament's YouTube channel is just one element of our ongoing efforts to engage with the public and young people in particular.
"We are pleased to be launching this new project in a year that has seen the House of Lords celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Life Peerages Act. The videos we have placed on the YouTube channel reflect the diversity and expertise in the House of Lords and its relevance to young people, and we hope that they will help to combat some of the outdated stereotypes of members of the Upper House."
