Lord chancellor David Lammy made his first public admission that he may lose his job with the change in prime ministers with a light-hearted remark at the lady mayor’s judges’ dinner at Mansion House last night. 

In his speech, the deputy prime minister recalled 'Last year, my predecessor [Shabana Mahmood] said without wishing to curse herself, she hoped to achieve something that had become unthinkable in recent years: a third appearance at the judges’ dinner. As it turned out, she tempted fate rather more successfully than she intended.

‘Recent events have reinforced the wisdom of not making long-term predictions about politics so, if you’ll forgive me, I won’t make any comment about who next year’s speaker might be.’

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In a speech highlighting work on judicial diversity, Lammy noted that ‘women are leading both the judiciary and the City’ and it is ‘also the first time we have a black lord chancellor’.

‘These milestones say something important about our country: that it is a place where talent and hard work can take anyone anywhere.

‘The lady chief justice and I want every lawyer to feel that the judiciary is open to them. That is why we have established the Judicial and Legal Diversity Board, to look at practical steps to identify and remove unnecessary barriers to judicial office while continuing to preserve the principle that every appointment should, of course, be made on merit.

‘Our hope is that the judiciary, including at the most senior levels, can attract the very best people from all walks of life…because widening the pool of talent strengthens the bench and a judiciary that reflects the people it serves strengthens public confidence in its ability to deliver fair outcomes.’

In her speech, the lady chief justice noted that the courts are ‘undergoing change and with it our justice system is evolving’ adding: ‘In any institution, a key strand is the people, and there can be evolutionary bursts. This is one of those times for the judiciary.’

‘Just as with our courts and tribunals, our senior judiciary also then is evolving. Fans of a certain dystopian future’s judicial officer, Judge Dredd, might well view this as a risk but rest assured, our current evolutionary state is very much not at risk of producing any science-fiction "street judges".

‘Within the judiciary we have a real depth and breadth of talent and experience. We have already seen that in the appointment of Sir Colin Birss as chancellor and Sir Stephen Cobb as president of the Family Division.

‘We will see again later this year when the new master of the rolls and president are appointed. We see it generally through appointments to the bench at all levels.

‘I believe we can look to the future knowing that, no matter what, our commitment – judiciary, government and City – to the delivery of justice for all burns as brightly tonight as ever. That, as long as we continue to think carefully about how to effect evolutionary improvements to our justice system, ones which draw on the best of the past to better secure the courts’ ability to deliver justice in the future, we will continue to enable our judges to do right by all without fear or favour.’