Lordly

The Guardian spotted BBC DG Lord Hall, at the end of his septimana horribilis, taking tea in the Upper House with Conservative peer Lord Inglewood.

Lord Inglewood, otherwise William Richard Fletcher-Vane (Eton, Trinity Cambridge and Lincoln's Inn) is a former MEP, a former Tory Whip in the Lords, and one-time minister in the Department of National Heritage. Most recently he has been chair of the Lords Communications Select Committee.

His ancestral home is Hutton-in-the Forest, just off the M6 north of Penrith. He's non-executive chair of the CN Group, running newspapers and radio stations in Cumbria. DG-manque Caroline Thomson is also a non-executive director.

Earlier this year, Lord Inglewood opined that the BBC Trust was a "botched reform". He may be a useful ally for Lord Hall within the modern Conservative Party that is currently teasing him so naughtily in the media playground.

Lord Inglewood: Essential that politics is kept apart from decisions on BBC regulation and governance #citybeeb

— City Journalism (@cityjournalism) March 26, 2015