Lords Speaker Baroness Hayman revealed a family link to the Board of Deputies at the launch of a book marking the Board's 250th anniversary.

She said her late father "at some point represented Wolverhampton" as a deputy. Her hosting the reception would have given him "great nachas".

The Board had always interested her "in terms of an institution and a way of dealing with those issues which are so to the fore and relevant today - like how one deals with loyalty to a country, faith and ethnic origin".

Baroness Hayman added that the book, 250 Years of Convention and Contention by Raphael Langham, told the story of "a huge achievement".

Board president Vivian Wineman said: "There was something missing in Anglo-Jewry that there was no account of the Board of Deputies. We took this very seriously and wanted something that was academic and that would stand scrutiny."