The Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP Deputy Prime Minister And Lord President of The Council.

The Parliamentary Yearbook is an invaluable guide to Parliament — a ‘who’s who’ as well as a ‘what’s on’ that isn’t just for those of us here in Westminster but a guide that citizens everywhere can enjoy.

That kind of engagement is even more important than usual. At the election every party campaigned on a platform of political change, promising that this parliament would be a different kind of parliament: reforming, modernising, transparent. Britain has become a country more open, less tribal and less deferential. Yet our politics remain too closed, too remote and too elite.

So political renewal will be a major theme of this parliament. Parliamentarians on all sides must show the British people that we are serious about making our politics more accountable, giving British democracy a much-needed shot in the arm. This year will see big steps in our ambitious programme of constitutional reform.

That includes, for example, legislating for constituency boundaries to be independently redrawn, so that votes in different parts of the country carry the same weight. By fixing parliamentary terms we are removing, for the first time ever, the Prime Minister’s historic right to call an election on a whim. Plus, we are getting on with modernising the House of Lords — finishing a job started a century ago.

So this is an important time for Parliament. I’d like to congratulate the publishers of the Parliamentary Yearbook for providing a useful tool in holding us to account. The British people want a new politics. We must now deliver it.