On Monday 10 October, The Guardian published an article by Joshua Rozenberg – Nine men, a Lady and the Master. The article asked who would replace Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers (pictured) as President of the Supreme Court. Lord Phillips had not publicly announced his retirement at this stage. The next day, Lord Phillips announced that he would retire on 30 September 2012.
Rozenberg’s article speculates that Lord Neuberger – presently Master of the Rolls – would be in line to become the court’s next President, though Rozenberg admits of other possibilities including Lady Hale who gave a dissenting judgment in R (McDonald) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea [2011], which appears to have irritated some of her male colleagues – see, for example, the judgment at para 27.
