Rishi Sunak’s resignation peerages will do nothing to help collapsing trust in politicsTen months after the last government ended, it is still able to stuff yet more peers into the grossly oversized House of Lords. On Friday, Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours list was published, ennobling seven Conservative...Posted 15 Apr 2025
ERS in the Press – January 2024Despite being one of our country’s shortest ever Prime Ministers Liz Truss dominated the headlines over the festive period. The ERS press team were ready and waiting to get our arguments around the House of...Posted 18 Jan 2024
The UK’s shortest serving PM hands out peerages to friends and supportersIn the days between Christmas and New Year, the government tried to quietly slip out some bad news – it hoped many people would be too distracted by remnant cheeseboards and left-over Turkey to notice...Posted 02 Jan 2024
Resignation honours are the worst, but all patronage is badThe fact that Liz Truss’s short-term premiership can result in lifetime appointments to the house of House of Lords has rightfully angered many. But it is just an example of business as usual in Westminster,...Posted 23 Aug 2023
Liz Truss’ resignation honours could be a turning point for reformNews reports this weekend revealed that Liz Truss’s controversial honours list is making its way through the vetting process with the Cabinet Office and House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC). This suggests that the UK’s...Posted 16 Aug 2023
How honourable are honours lists?Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list caused quite a kerfuffle between the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) and the current and former PM. This all led to a rather slimmed-down list from the much speculated...Posted 11 Jul 2023
The row over Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list highlights why it should be the lastThe recent days have seen the national focus pulled onto the House of Lords through the public row between Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson over the latter’s resignation honours list. While the spat has provided...Posted 13 Jun 2023
New polling shows 61% oppose Boris Johnson’s resignation peeragesOur new polling has found that just one in 14 people (7%) support Boris Johnson stuffing more peers into the already bulging House of Lords with his resignation honours list. Polling of 2,050 people, conducted...Posted 28 Mar 2023
Life-time appointments to Lords should not be handed out as rewards for failureA seat in the House of Lords is a lifetime appointment to make our laws, not a gift to be handed out by a prime minister as they head out the door. Yet the prime...Posted 01 Nov 2022
A majority of people oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to pack the Lords with new peersOur new polling has found that the majority of people (54%) oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to pack the Lords with new peers just weeks before he leaves office. Some prime ministers appoint a group of...Posted 16 Aug 2022