Peter Mandelson should save his slimming tips for the House of LordsLord Peter Mandelson found himself in the headlines a couple of times this week. Firstly, when he criticised Labour’s plans to scrap the unelected Lords and replace it with an elected chamber that better represents...Posted 07 Mar 2024
As more peers are crammed in the Lords, the public support elected membersLate on Friday, the Government slipped out its latest honours list, which will add 13 new peers to the already-heaving House of Lords. Among the newly-ennobled are the usual clutch of party donors and advisors....Posted 13 Feb 2024
How many peers are there in the House of Lords – and how many does it need?One of the unique features of our currently second chamber, apart from it being unelected and still partially based on inherited titles, is that its membership is huge. At over 800 peers in total, not...Posted 21 Dec 2023
An unenviable milestone – we must stop the bloat of our oversized second chamberThis week the House of Lords hit an unenviable milestone – once again topping over 800 members following Boris Johnson’s latest round of appointments. Some barriers are meant to be broken but having 800 members...Posted 12 Feb 2021
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
Cutting numbers can’t be the end of the road for Lords reformIt’s a sad but true fact that, in general, it’s not good news that brings the need for Lords reform to the fore in British politics. But on Monday, a packed chamber of Peers gathered...Posted 07 Dec 2016
Our bloated second chamberThe House of Lords is already the biggest chamber in the democratic world – yet it is growing in size with each new government. As peers sit in the chamber for life, it grows with...Posted 19 Oct 2015
The Supersized House of LordsThe House of Lords Reform Bill is gone. But the House of Lords remains unsustainable. At the heart of this problem is the chamber’s scope for growth. The House of Lords is already the largest Second...Posted 16 Jun 2013