Lords Reform
Encyclopedia
Upper house
An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. This process was started by the Parliament Act 1911
Parliament Act 1911
The Parliament Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is constitutionally important and partly governs the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords which make up the Houses of Parliament. This Act must be construed as one with the Parliament Act 1949...
introduced by the then Liberal Government which stated:
When the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
came to power in the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, it had in its manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
the promise to reform the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
:
On 7 November 2001 the government undertook a public consultation. This helped to create a public debate on the issue of Lords reform, with 1,101 consultation responses and numerous debates in Parliament and the media. However, no consensus on the future of the upper chamber emerged.
All three of the main parties promised to take action on Lords reform in the 2010 general election, and following it the Coalition Agreement included a promise "to bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected upper
chamber on the basis of proportional representation".
Detailed proposals were published on 17 May 2011.
Reform before 1997
Parliament Act 1911Parliament Act 1911
The Parliament Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is constitutionally important and partly governs the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords which make up the Houses of Parliament. This Act must be construed as one with the Parliament Act 1949...
- removed the ability of the House of Lords to veto money bills, with any other bills, the House of Commons was given powers to overrule the Lords' veto after 3 sessions.
Parliament Act 1949
Parliament Act 1949
The Parliament Act 1949 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.This Act must be construed as one with the Parliament Act 1911...
- amended the 1911 act reducing the time the Lords could delay a bill from 3 sessions to 2.
Salisbury Convention
Salisbury Convention
The Salisbury Convention is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom which puts forward that the House of Lords will not oppose the second or third reading of any government legislation promised in its election manifesto.Following a landslide Labour general election victory in...
(1945–1951) - An unwritten constitutional convention
Constitutional convention (political custom)
A constitutional convention is an informal and uncodified procedural agreement that is followed by the institutions of a state. In some states, notably those Commonwealth of Nations states that follow the Westminster system and whose political systems derive from British constitutional law, most...
that as the Commons is the elected chamber, it therefore has a mandate to pass anything in manifesto without Lords Veto. This was necessary as the Conservative Party had an absolute majority in the House of Lords, and it was seen as inappropriate for them to use this to block the Labour government's policies following their landslide victory in 1945.
Life Peerages Act 1958
Life Peerages Act 1958
The Life Peerages Act 1958 established the modern standards for the creation of life peers by the monarch of the United Kingdom. Life peers are barons and are members of the House of Lords for life, but their titles and membership in the Lords are not inherited by their children. Judicial life...
- This enabled the appointment of a new class of peers, who could sit and vote in the House of Lords, but the honour and rights would not be hereditary. These were merit-bases, letting in ‘the great and the good’ these were from various backgrounds of expertise and experience and ending in the exclusively hereditary (and male dominated) composition. Since this time, almost all peerages have been life peerages.
Peerage Act 1963
Peerage Act 1963
The Peerage Act 1963 is the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permitted peeresses in their own right and all Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, and which allows newly inherited hereditary peerages to be "disclaimed".-Background:The Act resulted largely from the...
- Allowed hereditary peers to disclaim their peerage, allowing them to vote and stand for elections to the House of Commons. It also permitted hereditary peers in the Peerage of Scotland and female hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords.
Powers as of 1997 Election
Originally, the two Houses of Parliament had equal legislative powers. The agreement of both was necessary before a bill could be submitted to the Monarch for royal assentRoyal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
, which if granted made the bill an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
. After the English Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, a constitutional convention
Constitutional convention (political custom)
A constitutional convention is an informal and uncodified procedural agreement that is followed by the institutions of a state. In some states, notably those Commonwealth of Nations states that follow the Westminster system and whose political systems derive from British constitutional law, most...
arose that the House of Lords would defer to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
on measures to raise and spend money.
The Parliament Act 1911
Parliament Act 1911
The Parliament Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is constitutionally important and partly governs the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords which make up the Houses of Parliament. This Act must be construed as one with the Parliament Act 1949...
divided Bills into three classes.
- Money bills which, failing consent from the Lords within one month, could receive royal assent without it.
- Other bills on which the House of Lords could exercise a suspensory veto.
- On any bill extending the maximum term of the House of Commons beyond five years, the House of Lords retained equal legislative powers.
Together with the Parliament Act 1949
Parliament Act 1949
The Parliament Act 1949 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.This Act must be construed as one with the Parliament Act 1911...
, these two acts enable the Commons (in exceptional circumstance) to pass legislation without approval from the Lords but subject to certain time delays. In effect, they give the House of Lords the power to delay legislation but not to prevent it.
Since 1911 there have been various attempts to reform the Lords, but none tackled the powers of the House except the Parliament Act 1949
Parliament Act 1949
The Parliament Act 1949 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.This Act must be construed as one with the Parliament Act 1911...
which reduced the suspensory veto to two sessions and one year. By the time of the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
there was still no consensus on comprehensive reform of the upper chamber of Parliaments.
Reform process since 1997
In 1999, the Government completed a deal with the Lords to remove most of the hereditary Peers and passed the House of Lords Act 1999House of Lords Act 1999
The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. The Act reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats;...
leaving amongst the majority of appointed Peers a rump of 92 Hereditary Peers until the second phase of reform was complete. These 92 were elected from within those who had had a right to be members of the House of Lords as a result of their hereditary status. This arrangement was intended to be purely temporary until the second stage of reform was completed. This led to some claims (perhaps not all serious) that the elected Hereditary Lords were the only democratic members of the House.
Royal Commission
In 1999 a Royal Commission was appointed, under Baron Wakeham, to examine proposals for Lords Reform and make recommendations. It published its report (See Wakeham ReportWakeham Report
The Wakeham Report, published in 2000, was the report of a Royal Commission headed by Lord Wakeham, concerning reform of the United Kingdom's House of Lords. -Recommendations of the report:...
) in 2000 with 132 recommendations of which the main were:
- It should have around 550 members of which 65, 87 or 195 should be elected.
- There should be an independent Appointments CommissionHouse of Lords Appointments CommissionThe House of Lords Appointments Commission is a non-partisan, non-statutory, independent body in the United Kingdom. It has three roles:*to recommend people for appointment as non-party-political life peers;...
responsible for all appointments. - The new second chamber should have the capacity to offer counsel from a range of sources. It should be broadly representative of society in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 21st century. It should work with the House of Commons to provide an effective check upon the Government. It should give the United Kingdom’s constituent nations and regions, for the first time, a formally constituted voice in the Westminster Parliament.
- The Commons should be the principal political forum, should have the final say in respect of all major public policy issues, including those expressed in the form of proposed legislation. The second chamber should have sufficient power, and the associated authority, to require the Government and the House of Commons to reconsider proposed legislation and take account of any cogent objections to it.
- The House of Lords should contain a substantial proportion of people who are not professional politicians, who have continuing experience in a range of different walks of life and who can bring a broad range of expertise to bear on issues of public concern. Representation of the reformed second chamber should match that of the country as expressed in votes cast at the most recent general election but it should not be capable of being dominated by any one political partyPolitical partyA political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
and continue to include people who can help it to maintain a philosophical, moral or spiritual perspective on public policy issues. - Possession of a peeragePeerageThe Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
should no longer be a necessary qualification for membership - Provisions should be in place to permit ministers to be drawn from the Upper House
- The upper House should ensure changes to constitution are not made without full and open debate and that there is increased scrutiny of secondary legislation
- The commission could not recommend: a wholly or largely directly elected second chamber; indirect election from the devolved institutions (or local government electoral colleges) or from among British MEPs; random selection, or co-option.
In the debate in the House of Lords (7 March 2000), Baroness Jay expressed the Government's broad acceptance of the Commission's report:
On 4 May 2000 the Prime Minister announced the membership of a non-statutory Appointments Commission
House of Lords Appointments Commission
The House of Lords Appointments Commission is a non-partisan, non-statutory, independent body in the United Kingdom. It has three roles:*to recommend people for appointment as non-party-political life peers;...
; In the debate in the Commons on 19 June 2000 the Government announced the establishment of a Joint Committee of both houses to consider the Royal Commission's work. But in a written reply on 6 March 2001 the Government stated there was little prospect of a Joint Committee being established in the present Parliament due to a failure of cross-party discussions. On 26 April 2001 the Queen confirmed her intention to create 15 new non party-political members of the House of Lords termed "People's Peers". In the May 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
, all three main parties included statements on House of Lords reform in their manifestos.
White paper and first consultation
On 7 November 2001, the government launched a white paper and consultation stating:In the white paper, although the government said it "strongly endorsed" the Royal Commission's views, it listed its own proposals:
- The remaining 92 Hereditary Peers were to be removed, the number capped after 10 years at 600 and 120 members to be elected to represent the nations and the regions.
- It was to include a significant minority of independent members. Its political membership should be broadly representative of the main parties' relative voting strengths as reflected in the previous General Election. Membership was to be separated from the peerage which would continue as an honour. There should be increased representation of women and those from ethnic minority backgrounds. No group in society should in future have privileged hereditary access to the House.
- The House of Lords would remain subject to the pre-eminence of the House of Commons in discharging its functions; its principal function should continue to be to consider and revise legislation, to scrutinise the executive, and to debate and report on public issues.
- The statutory Appointments Commission would manage the balance and size of the House, appoint the independent members, and to assure the integrity of those nominated by political parties.
First public consultation
The white paper invited comments from interested parties stating the government intended to introduce legislation "incorporating decisions on the issues raised in the consultation" and listed the following as the main points of consultation:
- The overall balance between elected, nominated and ex officio members, and the balance between political and independent members;
- Whether elections to the Lords should be linked to General Elections, those for the European Parliament, or over time linked to those from devolved and regional bodies within the UK;
- The length of term for elected members;
- The term of appointment;
- What grounds should lead to statutory expulsion from the House;
- Should there be a change from an expenses-based system of remuneration.
The result was that an unprecedented 1101 submissions were made to the consultation and both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties published their own proposals during the consultation in January 2002. In May 2002, the Government published a statistical analysis. The Government proposed to establish a Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform to try to take matters forward and achieve a consensus
Votes of February 2003
On 11 December 2002 the Joint Committee published its first report which set out "an inclusive range of seven options for the composition of a reformed House of Lords". In January 2003, the House of Lords and Commons debated the report. The debate in the Lords was dominated by contributors arguing for a fully appointed House so much so that Lord Irvine stated:And, on 29 January 2003 Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, added his own support to a fully appointed House by arguing against the creation of a hybrid House. On 4 February 2003, the Commons and House of Lords voted on the seven options proposed by the joint committee and the Commons also voted on an amendment to abolish the upper House completely:
| Option | Lords | Commons | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elected | Appointed | For | Against | For | Against |
| 0% | 100% | 335 | 110 | 245 | 323 |
| 20% | 80% | 39 | 375 | - | - |
| 40% | 60% | 60 | 358 | - | - |
| 50% | 50% | 84 | 322 | - | - |
| 60% | 40% | 91 | 317 | 253 | 316 |
| 80% | 20% | 93 | 338 | 281 | 284 |
| 100% | 0% | 106 | 329 | 272 | 289 |
| Abolition | - | - | 172 | 390 | |
After this series of votes where the Commons failed to back a single option and the Lords only a fully appointed House, Robin Cook
Robin Cook
Robert Finlayson Cook was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Livingston from 1983 until his death, and notably served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001....
the leader of the Commons said:
With widely differing views in the Joint Committee, its report on 9 May 2003 effectively passed the initiative back to the Government. But nine members of the Joint Committee issued a statement coinciding with the publication which stated:
Creation of Department for Constitutional Affairs
Department for Constitutional Affairs
The Department for Constitutional Affairs was a United Kingdom government department. Its creation was announced on 12 June 2003 with the intention of replacing the Lord Chancellor's Department...
In June 2003, Tony Blair announced the creation of a new department to oversee constitutional change with Lord Falconer as its first Secretary of State. The department was tasked with:
- Establishment of an independent Judicial Appointments Commission.
- Creation of a new Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United KingdomThe Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court in all matters under English law, Northern Ireland law and Scottish civil law. It is the court of last resort and highest appellate court in the United Kingdom; however the High Court of Justiciary remains the supreme court for criminal...
to replace the existing system of Law Lords operating as a committee of the House of Lords. - Reform of the Speakership of the House of Lords.
- New arrangements for the conduct of Scottish and Welsh business.
When in 2003 Lord Falconer signalled the governments preference for an all appointed House of Lords, three members of the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
issued a statement:
Ministers responded saying
Second public consultation
In September 2003, the Department for Constitutional AffairsDepartment for Constitutional Affairs
The Department for Constitutional Affairs was a United Kingdom government department. Its creation was announced on 12 June 2003 with the intention of replacing the Lord Chancellor's Department...
issued Constitutional Reform: Next Steps for the House of Lords, which gave as its main proposals:
- A fully Appointed House of Lords
- Removal of the remaining 92 Hereditary Peers
- Establishment of a statutory independent Appointments Commission accountable to Parliament which would determine numbers and timings of appointments, select independent members of the House to oversee party nominations
The paper also started a second consultation, on the Appointments Commission for the House of Lords requesting submissions on how the Appointments Commission itself would be appointed, even though no other alternatives to an appointed Commission had been considered. Reaction to the paper was hostile: for example, Lord Goodhart, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Constitutional Affairs, said "the overwhelming reaction I have is a feeling of contempt and betrayal."
On 18 March 2004 (before the statistical analysis had been published), the BBC reported that the government would not proceed with legislation to enact the proposals in the consultation. Although this suggested a lack of support for their proposals from the consultation, when the statistical analysis was published on 22 April 2004 the report stated that on the main issue (2a):
With such an apparently high level of support, it is unclear why the government chose not to proceed. The only insight available is unofficial reports putting the actual level of support at closer to third.
Moreover, as the government published most of the responses to both consultations, it is possible to see that many of these responses were highly critical of both the Government's proposal and the consultation process; some even went on to complain that the UK government breached its own code of conduct for consultations by failing to mention many of the new ideas arising from both consultations.
In the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, all three parties included statements on reform of the House of Lords in their manifestos with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats promising "substantially"/"predominantly" elected Chambers. In December 2005, the Constitution Unit, part of the University College of London's School of Public Policy, released research findings showing "surprising levels of support from MPs and the public for the Lords to vote down government proposals":
2006 discussions
In March 2006, the House of Lords reform was again under discussion. This new interest resulted from the Cash for PeeragesCash for Peerages
Cash for Honours is the name given by some in the media to a political scandal in the United Kingdom in 2006 and 2007 concerning the connection between political donations and the award of life peerages...
affair together with recent attempts by the Lords to block, water down (or add safeguards to, according to viewpoint), recent controversial legislation such as the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001
The Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 was formally introduced into the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 19 November 2001, two months after the terrorist attacks on New York on 11 September. It received royal assent and came into force on 14 December 2001...
, Hunting Act 2004
Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act is to outlaw hunting with dogs in England and Wales from 18 February 2005...
, Terrorism Act 2006
Terrorism Act 2006
The Terrorism Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006, after being introduced on 12 October 2005. The Act creates new offences related to terrorism, and amends existing ones. The Act was drafted in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005...
, the Identity Cards Act 2006, and the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which creates an offence in England and Wales of inciting hatred against a person on the grounds of their religion...
.
Following the failure of the previous public consultations, to endorse the Government's proposals for reform, in April 2006, Baroness Amos announced the government would now "consult privately" with the other main political parties on the membership of the House.
In the UK Cabinet reshuffle, May 2006 on 5 May 2006, governmental responsibility for this topic was transferred from Lord Falconer the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs
Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs
The Secretary of State for Justice is a senior position in the cabinet of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2007 replacing the abolished Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, which was originally intended to fulfil those functions of the office of Lord Chancellor which related to the...
and Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
to the Leader of the House of Commons
Leader of the House of Commons
The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons...
, Jack Straw
Jack Straw (politician)
John Whitaker Straw is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Blackburn since 1979. He served as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 and Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons from 2006 to 2007 under Tony Blair...
.
Jack Straw now faced an enormous challenge. Although seen as very modest reforms, the removal of most Hereditary Peers and rebalancing of the political make up of the House (Labour Peers now formed the largest political party) were making the House increasingly confident of its own legitimacy. Paradoxically, far from making the Lords more submissive, more and more the House of Lords was willing to be assertive in its actions and confront the government.
Public opinion
On 22 January 2007 the Power Inquiry launched a campaign for greater citizen involvement and provided statistics showing that 68% of the public felt a jury of the general public should decide "the future of the House of Lords," 17% thought elected politicians should decide and 9% appointed Civil servants.2007 white paper
On 8 February 2007, the Government published a new white paperWhite paper
A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
following discussions of a cross-party working group convened by Jack Straw
Jack Straw (politician)
John Whitaker Straw is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Blackburn since 1979. He served as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 and Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons from 2006 to 2007 under Tony Blair...
, Leader of the House of Commons. The consensus position adopted by the paper called for a House composed of elected members and members appointed by a new Statutory Appointments Commission. The new Commission would select non-party-political appointees; party-political appointees would be nominated by party leaders in the House of Commons and vetted by the Commission.
Any elected element would be elected under a regional list system
Party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation in elections in which multiple candidates are elected...
. All elections and appointments would take place on a five-year cycle, with one third of the House admitted at each intake to a fixed fifteen-year term; this term would be non-renewable, to ensure members' independence. A further measure would prohibit former members of the reformed House from seeking election to the House of Commons before a minimum amount of time had elapsed after the expiry of their term in the reformed House - the Government suggested five years. The aim of this measure was to prevent aspiring politicians from using the reformed House as a base to launch a Parliamentary career. The Government proposed that elections and appointments should be held on the same day as elections for Britain's Members
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
- which also take place on a fixed five-year cycle.
Whilst the white paper made recommendations for a half-elected, half-appointed House, it proposed a free vote of MPs among seven options as to composition (see below). The white paper also recommended that at least 20% of members be non-party-political appointees: for example, under the white paper's proposal of a 50-50 split between elected and appointed members, the remaining 30% appointed members would be party political; under the 80%-20% elected/appointed option, there would be no party-political appointees. The 20% non-party-political element would include a reduced number of Church of England bishops
Lords Spiritual
The Lords Spiritual of the United Kingdom, also called Spiritual Peers, are the 26 bishops of the established Church of England who serve in the House of Lords along with the Lords Temporal. The Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, is not represented by spiritual peers...
, whose appointment would not go through the Statutory Appointments Commission. The total size of the House was proposed to be 540 members - with 180 introduced at each intake.
The paper provided for a gradual transition, with no life peers forced to retire before death, but with the possibility of a redundancy package should they choose to do so. The remaining hereditary peers would be removed, but the white paper left open whether they would be removed at one stroke or allowed a gradual removal by 'natural wastage'. The link between the peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
and membership of the House would be broken: peerages could still potentially be awarded as an honour
British honours system
The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories...
, but would neither entail nor follow automatically from a seat in the House. The question of a possible new name for the reformed House was left open.
The white paper also proposed avoiding the risk of all options being rejected, as had occurred in the 2003 debate, by using the alternative vote
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
system (also known as instant-runoff voting). Using the alternative vote for legislative proposals would have been a new precedent for the UK Parliament. Resistance by Members on all sides of the House of Commons caused Leader of the House of Commons Jack Straw to drop this proposal on 19 February. The free vote was therefore held under traditional Parliamentary procedures.
Votes of March 2007
In March 2007 the Houses of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
and Lords debated the proposals in the 2007 white paper and voted on a similar series of motions to those voted on in 2003. Unexpectedly, the House of Commons voted by a large majority for an all-elected Upper House. One week later, the House of Lords retorted by voting for an all-appointed House by a larger majority.
After the Commons vote, it was speculated by political commentators that some MPs supporting a fully appointed House had voted tactically for a fully elected House as the option likely to be least acceptable to the House of Lords. This called into question the significance of the larger majority achieved for 100% elected than that achieved for 80% elected. However, examination of the names of MPs voting at each division in the Commons shows that, of the 305 who voted for the 80% elected option, 211 went on to vote for the 100% elected option. Given that this vote took place after the vote on 80% – whose result was already known when the vote on 100% took place – this shows a clear preference in the Commons for a fully elected Upper House over the only other option that passed, since any MP who favoured 80% over 100% would have voted against the latter motion, having already secured their preferred outcome (76 MPs – including Jack Straw, his shadow Theresa May and Opposition Leader David Cameron – did exactly that). Had all the votes been held in the contrary order, those 211 would have voted against the 80% motion, which would consequently have fallen.
| Option | Lords | Commons | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elected | Appointed | For | Against | For | Against |
| 0% | 100% | 361 | 121 | 196 | 375 |
| 20% | 80% | - | - | - | - |
| 40% | 60% | - | - | - | - |
| 50% | 50% | 46 | 409 | 155 | 418 |
| 60% | 40% | 45 | 392 | 178 | 392 |
| 80% | 20% | 114 | 336 | 305 | 267 |
| 100% | 0% | 112 | 326 | 337 | 224 |
| Retain Bicameral | - | - | 416 | 163 | |
| Remove Hereditaries | - | - | 391 | 111 | |
There was strong opinion about the votes. Lord McNally, the Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords said the Lords' decision
Prior to the debate Lord Lipsey, former Economics Editor of the Sunday Times, estimated the cost of the plans in the white paper at £1.092 billion over a 15 year term. The government dismissed this as "back-of-an-envelope calculations" and Jack Straw told the House of Commons that
("Other place" is Commons jargon for the House of Lords.) In response Lord Lipsey accused Jack Straw of misleading the House of Commons:
On 15 March Lord Steel published a proposed bill approved by a large meeting of peers and MPs of all parties who had been working on these proposals for some time with proposals for four reforms:
- End the by-elections for hereditary peers and turn the remaining ones into de facto life peers and finally end hereditary entry into our Upper House.
- Create a Statutory Appointments Commission to replace Prime Ministerial patronage for new peers.
- Authorise the government to proceed with a retirement package which should reduce the average age and decrease the present House of 740 by possibly 200.
- Enable peerages to be removed from those guilty of serious offences on the same basis as the Commons.
The Brown Premiership
On 19 July 2007 Jack StrawJack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
in his new position as Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
and Justice Secretary in the cabinet of Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
announced that
Jack Straw also stated that the powers of the chamber, the method of election, financial packages and the number of members will (yet again) be discussed by a cross-party working group. The opposition's response was to suggest that "the real message in your statement today [is] that Lords reform is on ice until after the next election".
On 14 May 2008 Gordon Brown announced that the government intends to publish a new white paper
White paper
A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
on lords reform.
Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government
The Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition agreement agreed following the 2010 general election clearly outlines a provision for a wholly or mainly elected second chamber, elected by a proportional representation system. These proposals sparked a debate on the 29th June 2010. As an interim measure, appointment of new peers will reflect shares of the vote secured by the political parties in the last general election.Detailed proposals for Lords reform were published on 17 May 2011. These include a 300-member hybrid house, of which 80% are elected. A further 20% would be appointed, and reserve space would be included for some Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
bishops
Lords Spiritual
The Lords Spiritual of the United Kingdom, also called Spiritual Peers, are the 26 bishops of the established Church of England who serve in the House of Lords along with the Lords Temporal. The Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, is not represented by spiritual peers...
. Under the proposals, members would also serve single non-renewable terms of 15 years. Former MP's would be allowed to stand for election to the Upper House, but members of the Upper House would not be immediately allowed to become MPs.
The range of options
"Central to the future House of Lords is its composition. For the Lords to act with legitimacy as an effective and balanced second chamber, it must have the right form to deliver the range of roles and functions it needs". With 1101 submissions to the first consultation, several hundred to the second and many articles in the newspapers and various discussions, there were many different views on reform of the House of Lords. It is only possible to give a broad outline of the many different proposals and even then only those where the proposals were mentioned by a number of respondents.Proposals are listed alphabetically
Abolition
Many legislatures, such as the parliaments of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Israel and New Zealand (and within the UK, the Scottish ParliamentScottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
, the Welsh Assembly, and the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
) are unicameral and thus do not have an upper house. Instead, scrutiny is carried out by parliamentary committees. A substantial minority of MPs voted for the outright abolition of the upper house in 2003, and it was Labour party policy until the late 1980s.
Allotment (sortition)
There was a considerable number of proposals in the consultation for an Upper House chosen by allotmentSortition
In politics, sortition is the selection of decision makers by lottery. The decision-makers are chosen as a random sample from a larger pool of candidates....
(random selection). Proposals varied from a House chosen completely at random from the whole electorate to those where allotment was applied to smaller groups such as those volunteering or those selected in another way. Most proposals referred to the allotment of the governing juries in the democracy of Ancient Greece
Athenian democracy
Athenian democracy developed in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprising the central city-state of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, around 508 BC. Athens is one of the first known democracies. Other Greek cities set up democracies, and even though most followed an Athenian model,...
, where selection by lot was considered to be more democratic than election:
However, at present within the UK, this form of selection is mainly restricted to the allotment of jurors
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
. Opposition is based either on the practical need for some expertise amongst members of the upper chamber or on a belief that "Democracy means an elected second chamber".
Appointment
The reason that the UK almost uniquely (except for Canada) still retained an appointed second chamber in 1997 was that it was widely accepted that it worked effectively. In particular the large number of cross bench peers would be impossible to achieve in most electoral systems.Those supporting a fully appointed House reject the idea of a composite partly elected, party appointed House:
The main issues are:
- achieving a range of representation, bringing in those with skills and experience, allowing ex officio members and ensuring a continuity of membership;
- maintaining the status and independence of the Lords without endangering the supremacy of the Commons;
- maintaining the low cost of the present House; and
- preventing the possibility of a constitutional clash between appointed and elected members.
Combination
By far the most commonly suggested proposal for reform amongst politicians is a combination of an elected and appointed House and this was the original proposal recommended by the Wakeham ReportWakeham Report
The Wakeham Report, published in 2000, was the report of a Royal Commission headed by Lord Wakeham, concerning reform of the United Kingdom's House of Lords. -Recommendations of the report:...
. Proponents suggest the combination would allow an appointed element to retain the skills and experience of the present House and elections would make it democratic without the problems of being fully elected which would allow the Upper House to challenge the primacy of the Commons. Opponents say that the two types of members will inevitably conflict, voting for part of the House will have little support amongst an already sceptical electorate, and the lack of synergy will make it worse than either a fully elected or fully appointed house. Various proposals on the exact percentage of those elected and appointed have been produced:
- In January 2002, the Conservatives unveiled plans for a 300 member "Senate", with 240 members elected by first past the post for 15 years.
- The Elect the LordsElect the LordsElect The Lords is a campaign established in September 2004 by the New Politics Network and Charter88 calling for the United Kingdom House of Lords to be replaced by a predominantly elected upper house...
campaign set up by New Politics NetworkNew Politics NetworkThe New Politics Network was an independent political and campaigning think tank in the United Kingdom, concerned with democratic renewal and popular participation in politics...
and Charter88Charter88Charter88 was a British pressure group that advocated constitutional and electoral reform and owes its origins to the lack of a written constitution. It began as a special edition of the New Statesman magazine in 1988 and it took its name from Charter 77 - the Czechoslovak dissident movement...
supports a predominantly elected second chamber. - In 2005, a cross party group of MPs chaired by Paul Tyler consisting of Kenneth ClarkeKenneth ClarkeKenneth Harry "Ken" Clarke, QC, MP is a British Conservative politician, currently Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. He was first elected to Parliament in 1970; and appointed a minister in Edward Heath's government, in 1972, and is one of...
, Robin CookRobin CookRobert Finlayson Cook was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Livingston from 1983 until his death, and notably served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001....
, Dr Tony Wright and Sir George YoungSir George Young, 6th BaronetSir George Samuel Knatchbull Young, 6th Baronet is a British politician. He is currently the Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal, and has served as a Conservative Party Member of Parliament since 1974, having represented North West Hampshire since 1997, and Ealing Acton before...
proposed a 70% elected second chamber, elected in thirds at each general election using the single transferable voteSingle transferable voteThe single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
. This proposal was largely adopted by the Power Commission.
Democratic appointments
Under this proposal, a jury would appoint some or all members of the chamber so retaining the skills and experience of the present House and also making its selection more democratic; the jury being considered to give democratic legitimacy to the appointments without the problems of mandating the House through elections which might lead to a potential conflict with the Commons. It was a minority "grass roots option" not seen before the second consultation where it was supported by around 10% of submissions.Election
Many countries have directly elected Upper Chambers but they try to make their electoral systems for the second chamber as distinct as possible from the first chamber by holding electionElection
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s on a different cycle or electing only a proportion of members on each occasion. Many politicians such as Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
maintain that elections are necessary to be democratic: "Democracy means an elected second chamber",.
According to the Government report, the advantages of an elected Upper House are:
- Legitimacy: There can be no doubt about the democratic mandate of a freely elected body.
- Status of members: Membership of the second chamber would be seen as a job with specific and important duties attached.
- Representation: All parts of the country and all shades of political opinion could be represented.
- Age: An elected House is likely to have more younger people in it than a nominated one.
- Entrenched bicameralism: It is an unequivocal sign the Government was committed to a bicameral legislature.
The main disadvantages are:
- Conflict with the House of Commons: It may challenge the supremacy of the Commons on the strength of its own electoral mandate - a conflict that may be difficult to resolve given the largely unwritten constitutionConstitutionA constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
of the UK. - Loss of independents and ex officio membership: It would be virtually impossible to retain any independent, non-party element in the House.
- Transitional difficulties: The transition to a fully elected House would be most disruptive.
- Higher costs: Elections, proper salaries and research facilities could considerably increase the costs.
Many submissions from the public rejected the notion that an elected Upper House would be democratic, basing their assertion on the model of the Athenian democracy
Athenian democracy
Athenian democracy developed in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprising the central city-state of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, around 508 BC. Athens is one of the first known democracies. Other Greek cities set up democracies, and even though most followed an Athenian model,...
which did not elect either the Upper House or assembly. (The Athenian Upper House was a court allotted from all citizens, any citizen was able to attend the assembly)
The main variation between proposals for an elected Upper House is the form of election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
:
- Most proponents support a system of Proportional RepresentationProportional representationProportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
- The ConservativesConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
have called for the second chamber to be elected by First Past the Post.
Heredity
A large number of hereditary peerHereditary peer
Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over seven hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, but since the House of Lords Act 1999 only ninety-two are permitted to do so...
s were crossbenchers with a wide range of interests outside politics. A hereditary right, which passes across the generations, may have the benefit of encouraging a longer-term perspective but this is perhaps at the expense of creating a divisive society. Moreover, in practice, the hereditary Peers had a natural bias on many issues (e.g., their support for the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and also for fox hunting
Fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...
). There are now few in current British politics who openly support this form of selection. However, there is a feeling in many sections of British society that an independent house is needed to check the government and it has been suggested that this was achieved by the combination of hereditary and life peers pre-1997 era.
Indirect election/appointment
About 30% of overseas second chambers are elected by indirect methods, including the upper houses of FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and the pre-1913
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote. The amendment supersedes Article I, § 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures...
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The electoral college often consists of members of local authorities or regional assemblies, and may include members of the primary chamber. There are various proposals:
- Elections by Regional Development Agencies and voluntary regional chambers, the London Assembly would "would demonstrate a direct connection between these other bodies and the central institutions at Westminster" and because "many of these bodies had themselves been elected... it could therefore reinforce the democratic nature of an otherwise nominated House"
Secondary mandate
A system proposed by musician and activist Billy BraggBilly Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
(and endorsed by the Economist magazine) whereby the share of each party's votes at each general election is aggregated and each party is allocated a number of places proportionately using a closed list
Closed list
Closed list describes the variant of party-list proportional representation where voters can only vote for political parties as a whole and thus have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected...
system. Each elector would have one vote which would both determine their local MP and the composition of the Upper House.
The advantages of this system are claimed to be that: there would be only one election campaign to fund, it does not waste votes because votes for minority parties will count in the Upper House and so it should improve voter turnout, and as the upper house has no direct vote it has no separate mandate and so the Commons will remain supreme. Critics however see a single vote as a choice between voting for an MP or voting for the upper house; if large numbers choose to vote for the upper house instead of their MP it would undermine the mandate of the Commons and create a confused election (for example MPs might be ousted by a poor performance of their party in the Upper House and vice versa).
Other issues
- At present, the Scottish ParliamentScottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
and Welsh Assembly have devolved powers over areas like Health and Education. The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly do not have upper chambers but instead MSPs and AMs scrutinise legislation in committee systems. This means that, for example, legislation on English health and education is subject to the House of Lords, whilst Scottish and possibly Welsh legislation are not. - There are some concerns that a reformed upper house may be "a feeder body" into the lower house (Charlotte AtkinsCharlotte AtkinsCharlotte Jean Scott Atkins is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Staffordshire Moorlands from 1997 until 2010.-Early life:...
MP) as has occurred in other countries with bicameral parliaments. Various proposals have been put forward to prevent this happening, including a five-year ban on former members of the Lords seeking election to the Commons. Others are concerned that the upper house may be filled by MPs who lose their seats. Proposals to deal with this problem include lifetime disqualification for membership of the House of Commons as a condition of a place in a reformed upper house. - The future of peerages. One proposal is that peerages should remain, as part of the honours system, but that they should no longer be linked to membership of the upper house.
- The name. Were the link between peerages and membership of the upper house to end, the name of the upper house might also change as a consequence. The Liberal Democrats, and more recently the Conservatives, have proposed SenateSenateA senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature or parliament. There have been many such bodies in history, since senate means the assembly of the eldest and wiser members of the society and ruling class...
, as in other countries. The Labour government has not put forward any proposed names, instead referring to the "reformed chamber" although the Leader of the House of Commons committee has promised to consult on a final name. - The loss of an element of independence in the legislative system. Public distrust of politicians in general, and the traditionally high quality of the contribution of hereditary peers to parliamentary business, leads many to regard the loss of the hereditary peers from the system as needless and ironically a retrograde step in democracy.
See also
- Gunpowder PlotGunpowder PlotThe Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
- AllotmentSortitionIn politics, sortition is the selection of decision makers by lottery. The decision-makers are chosen as a random sample from a larger pool of candidates....
- ElectionElectionAn election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
- House of LordsHouse of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
- Constitutional Reform Act 2005Constitutional Reform Act 2005The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the existing role of the Law Lords as well as some powers of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and removed the functions of Speaker of...
- Canadian Senate Reform