Tributes to Her Late Majesty The Queen

Diana Johnson Excerpts

Friday 9th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

There have been some wonderful tributes to Her late Majesty the Queen; in particular, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood) talked about the importance of the Commonwealth and of faith to the late Queen.

This is my opportunity to say a few words on behalf of my constituents in Kingston upon Hull North. I was pleased when my right hon. and learned Friend the Leader of the Opposition referred to some words of the adopted son of Kingston upon Hull, the poet Philip Larkin, who penned them 45 years ago for the silver jubilee celebrations. As with all great poems, the words resonate as much on this day as they did in 1977. I repeat them:

“In times when nothing stood

But worsened, or grew strange,

There was one constant good:

She did not change.”

My city of Kingston upon Hull has a rebellious history when it comes to the monarchy, having slammed the city gates against the King in the civil war. But the city took Queen Elizabeth to our hearts, and we were very firmly in the royalist camp during this second Elizabethan age. Her Majesty visited the city many times and met its people. During her reign, she was in Hull on some of the most important days in the life of the city and the region. They include the opening of the iconic Humber bridge in 1981, celebrating the city’s 700th birthday in 1999, and visiting Hull in 2017 when we were the UK city of culture. The late Queen’s first visit was actually to Hull Royal Infirmary in 1957; she came again 50 years later to open the Queen’s Centre for Oncology and Haematology at Castle Hill Hospital in 2009. The city will miss her.

Although the sovereign’s passing is a historic moment for the United Kingdom, our Commonwealth and many others around the world, at this time we must remember above all else that a family has lost a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. This loss to the nation resonates personally with the loss of one’s own parents or grandparents. In particular, I remember my auntie Betty—a staunch royalist who loved the Queen and was also born in 1926.

On behalf of the people of Hull, my thoughts and prayers are with the royal family at this saddest of times. I also express condolences on behalf of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, on which I sit. Although there is great sadness at this time, let us also remember a long life of service, so well lived and devoted to this nation—a life that should be celebrated. The Queen was a member of that greatest generation who herself, as we have heard, served in uniform in world war two, helping to secure our democracy’s survival against tyranny. This was also a Queen who embraced change throughout her life and saw us into the digital age.

It was a special honour to be sworn in as a Privy Councillor over Zoom during the covid pandemic; I did not have any of the worries about falling over the footstool. The Queen was on a very large screen in front of me. She looked entirely at ease and was taking this new technology completely in her stride—perhaps rather more so than the Lord President of the Council at that time, the right hon. Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg).

To conclude, like the vast majority of Britons alive today, I have known no other monarch; but sadly we now have reached the point where change has come. Alongside the condolences to the royal family, we look to the new King Charles III. One era is ending, and a new one is beginning. Queen Elizabeth II would want us to go forward as a great nation, in all our faiths and beliefs, proving that she was never mistaken in hers. God save the King.