House of Lords – Government

There has long been widespread awareness of need for reform of the House of Lords, as the upper chamber of our legislature is so quaintly named.

In the 20^th century the old hereditary system was progressively replaced. We now have a House with 791 sitting members, largely appointed Life Peers but also including 26 Anglican bishops. Which sounded a good idea at the time, it has degenerated with abuse of the appointments system, and is now largely a home for retired and otherwise redundant politicians and a prestigious sinecure to reward Party donors and other mates. It also contains numerous genuine worthies, but too few, and they tainted by the company they are forced to keep.

Calls for change now generally demand something more democratic, and generally take it for granted that this implies having an elected chamber. See e.g. an article from Guardian 31Aug09. But there seems little agreement on the specifics: how many members, for what constituencies, on what voting system, for how long.

And there are strong reasons to question the desirability of having a second level of national elections, possibly with an even lower turnout than for the Commons, to select yet another tier of politicians, probably only those who cannot get into the more powerful Commons. An ugly prospect.

There are three other possibilities which seem worthy of consideration:

delegates elected by popular interest groups (See an outline note, some detailed proposals, and comments on (a slightly earlier version of) that)
de jure representation of nominated professions and specialisms (See a preliminary sketch)
eminent citizens selected by a Lords Appointments Commission (See a discussion of options)

All those options have their merits, and it would be a pity to rule out any of them. So let us allow for all, and discuss proportions.

Assume the target and/or maximum is 400 members.

Allow up to 250 delegates of public interest groups. Start with relatively few and build up over time. Control the numbers by adjusting the qualification threshold.
Allow up to 50 de jure agencies. Delegate nominated as required, but must change after 10 years
Keep all peers who wish it as merit appointments for one year, renewable annually if judged contributors. Allow up to 100 renewable 10-year appointments of converted peers or new blood

The role of the Lords Appointments Commission could be extended to include deciding or advising on

which agencies should have de jure representation
the appropriate qualification threshold for public interest groups

The constitution of the Lords Appointments Commission needs careful thought, to ensure that it remains politically independent and devoted unreservedly to the well-being of the nation.

To confuse or enlighten you, an earlier note on the possibility of a democratic House of Lords (and HTML of that), plus an earlier version of the detailed proposals (and an even earlier version of that!).