THERESA May tried her hand at a Scottish accent as she mimicked a Tory colleague during remarks in her House of Lords maiden speech.
Making her debut in the upper chamber, the former Tory prime minister recalled how her “mentor” Baroness Annabel Goldie had given her a "gift" ahead of her introduction to the red benches last month.
There was laughter as May impersonated the accent of the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives to reveal the package was in fact a copy of the Lords rulebook for her to read during the conference recess.
Speaking in Parliament, the Conservative peer said: “I stand here feeling the privilege of being in this place but also with a sense of trepidation.
“People outside of this House have said to me, ‘Don’t worry you were a member of Parliament for Maidenhead for 27 years. It will be all right. You know what the ropes are, you know the rules’.
“And I say no. This is a very different place. And when they say how, I say well, for a start, their lordships normally only speak when they know what they are talking about.
“I will endeavour to follow that rule in my contributions in this place.”
Among those she thanked in her speech was Goldie.
May said: “I hope she won’t mind if I tell the story of the day of my introduction when I was standing in the Moses Room with my supporters waiting to process into the chamber.
“She turned up with a very large envelope for me and my supporters indicated how generous it was of her to give me a gift.
“And she said, ‘It’s the companion on standing orders. To read during recess’.”
Amid laughter, May said: “I have not yet been tested on it.”
She added: “I would like to thank her for the help and support she has given me not just recently but over many years.”
