Take Back Parliament

The case for Lords reform

This is the first in a series of guest posts from supporters advocating for wider democratic reforms.  House of Commons electoral reform is off the table for some time - so should we campaign for an elected Lords?

Danny Zinkus the Edinburgh group co-convenor makes the case for replacing the House of Lords with an elected Upper Chamber.

Sometimes the people who make the decisions are as important as what is decided.  Constitutions are the rules that determine who makes important decisions, how they are appointed and how they may  make their decisions.  Who has the power can be more important than what they actually do with it.  The theme that lies behind all Constitutional and Electoral Reform is to move power from the few to the many. So it is with Lords Reform.

Lords are currently appointed by the Prime Minister. An already powerful man (and they have all, but for one, been white men) can decide who is allowed to scrutinise and pass laws on your behalf. Public participation in the appointments process is limited to “vetting for propriety” by the Lords Appointment Commission. There are many excellent Lords. There are also a few who are only Lords because they donated money to a political party.

An elected second chamber would move the power to decide who became a Lord from the Prime Minister to the People. The Prime Minister represents about one third of electors. The People are all of us.

Lords Reform brings about a second important change in the way our constitution allocates power. The Commons is the only elected chamber. Therefore the view of the Commons prevails.  An elected upper chamber will have as much legitimacy as the Commons. 15 year single terms give a Reformed Lords a longer term view. Using PR to elect the Lords give our second chamber a more pluralistic outlook. The Reformed Lords will have a different perspective to the shorter-term, more careerist, partisan Commons. This view will have to be taken seriously as it will be backed up by votes. 

Lords Reform,  an elected second chamber transfers power from the many to the few. From them to us.

There is legislation on Lords reform passing through parliament right now so this is a critical time for its supporters.

You can sign a petition to calling for a fully elected Lords today:   

blog comments powered by Disqus