A handful of hereditary peers are trying to stifle reform – they are on the wrong side of historyWestminster is packed full of peculiar traditions from the Commons’ door being slammed in Black Rod’s face to the ban on MPs clapping. While many of them are relatively harmless, there are others which are...Posted 03 Apr 2018
May has dropped the new Lords appointments for now. Here’s what must happen nextFor months now, there has been widespread speculation that new appointments to the House of Lords were imminent. The second chamber – already overflowing with nearly 800 peers – was to welcome yet more former...Posted 16 Feb 2018
There is no room left in the House of Lords and no appetite for yet more peersWhether it’s a restaurant, a stadium, or your belly – when something is full, logic determines you stop adding to it. This basic principle should be applied to the House of Lords, but it isn’t....Posted 14 Feb 2018
Voting patterns in the House of Lords rubbish claims of its independenceArticle first published by Politics.co.uk. It is anticipated that Theresa May will appoint up to a dozen Tory peers this month – which could be joined by a handful of Labour members and some from the DUP. It is...Posted 11 Jan 2018
There’s a lobbying scandal brewing in the House of LordsThe House of Lords has long been a home for party donors and lobbyists. But now it turns out even those who have supposedly retired are taking advantage of the unelected House. As if the...Posted 02 Jan 2018
The facts are clear: We can’t afford to let the Lords go unreformedTomasina Wallman is a University of Nottingham Research Placement student with the Electoral Reform Society. The evidence is stronger than ever. The House of Lords is a drain not only on our democracy, but on...Posted 16 Nov 2017
The proposed Lords reforms are sticking plaster politics: Peers are writing their own rulesWe’re at a rare point in politics. There is almost a consensus on the need for change –to cut down the supersized House of Lords. At the end of this month, a key Lords committee...Posted 19 Oct 2017
The results come in for the UK’s most bizarre and elitist electionBaron Vaux of Harrowden (or Richard Hubert Gordon Gilbey) has won a seat for life on the basis of 16 (out of 27 cast) aristocrats’ votes. How did we get here? In 1999, the House...Posted 20 Jul 2017
The House of Lords is in the midst of yet another hereditary peers’ by-electionBy Darren Hughes In case you’re not aware of this bizarre constitutional anomaly, in 1999, the House of Lords Act kicked out all but 92 hereditary peers. But instead of reducing that number over time,...Posted 11 Jul 2017
Enough is enough – it’s time for a full review of Lords’ expensesIt seems that each new batch of expenses from the House of Lords is yet another scandal. This weekend we saw fresh revelations – and with it, some pretty egregious abuses of the system. Yesterday...Posted 03 Apr 2017