{"id":266,"date":"2024-02-04T15:13:51","date_gmt":"2024-02-04T15:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/?p=266"},"modified":"2024-02-04T15:13:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-04T15:13:51","slug":"the-house-of-lords-much-ado-about-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/2024\/02\/04\/the-house-of-lords-much-ado-about-nothing\/","title":{"rendered":"The House of Lords: Much Ado About Nothing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1: (Source: Sullivan, 2021) Clerks of the House of Lords lined up in their traditional wigs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a heated debate about the legality, ethics, and practicality of the controversial Rwanda Bill<\/a>, the House of Lords (HoL) voted to move the bill forward to the next stage of legislation. As the bill progresses, the question of what to do with the HoL resurfaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the Rwanda bill, some refugees seeking asylum in the UK will be sent to Rwanda as their claims are processed. Despite intense criticism during the first debate, peers (members of the HoL) voted against a measure that would block the bill by 206 to 84 votes (BBC News, 2023). The bill will now progress to the committee stage. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Figure 2: (Source: UK Parliament) The HoL vote will move the Bill to the Committee stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Elitist Past and an Uncertain Future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HoL is the unelected counterpart to the House of Commons (HoC) in the UK\u2019s legislative system. Calls for reform or even abolition of the HoL dates back centuries (Russel, 2013). The HoL originated as a council for the king and evolved to a mainly hereditary chamber that favoured the Conservatives (Russel, 2017). Peers have either a hereditary seat or are politically appointed by the monarch, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HoL is criticised for being undemocratic, elitist and misrepresentative of the wider public (Baldwin, 2007). The average age in the HoL is 71, over 30 years older than the UK wide median age of 40 (UK Parliament, 2017: Clark, 2022). Critics claim that this gap inherently  misrepresents the interests of the UK (Russel, 2023). A 2023 YouGov poll shows that only 19% of people aged 18-24 support the Rwanda Bill, but 58% of people over the age of 65 support the bill. The passing of the Rwanda Bill to the next stage by such a large majority supports the claim that the interests of the HoL is not conducive with that of the general UK population.  <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Figure 3: (Source: YouGov, 2023) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although there are always calls for change in the HoL, there has never been wide sweeping reform. Instead there have been a number of smaller, incremental changes such as the House of Lords Act 1999 which removed most hereditary peers (Russel, 2013). The HoL has taken a backseat to the HoC, changing into more of a recommending body than an equal partner to the HoC, but calls for change still persist (Russel, 2017). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are four possible futures for the HoL; remain as it is, undergo reform, replacement, or abolition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite near constant calls for change, there are still merits to the status quo. As the HoL does not exercise as much power as the HoC, it is argued that it is a complementary institution.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some believe that the appointment of peers creates a distance between the HoL and electoral politics (Russel, 2017). Therefore, peers don\u2019t have the same pressure to appease a constituency or have to dedicate time and resources into getting re-elected. This enables them to consider bills with a unique degree of separation and deliberate more carefully. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the UK faces a series of pressing issues such as the cost of living crisis and the ongoing effects of Brexit, supporters of the HoL argue that now is not the time to focus on reform (Russel, 2013). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reform<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although not on the top of the public\u2019s priority list, institutional reform has been pursued by both the Conservatives and Labour (Russel, 2023). Rather than changing the powers of the HoL, most reform proposals focus on the make-up (Russel, 2023). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reform can take many forms including lowering the size of the chamber, adding term limits, inserting the HoC into the appointment process, and relocation<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replacement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who see the HoL as illegitimate but still prefer the merits of a bicameral legislature, replacement is the way to go. However, the question lies in what to replace the HoL with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it could open the door to legislative gridlock, an elected chamber is a popular recommendation (Norton, 2020). The elected chamber could consist of smaller constituencies like the HoC or a smaller chamber of territorial representatives for the devolved governments. Another route for closer representation is a citizens assembly<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abolition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reform works slowly and replacement is vague, there are calls to abolish the HoL entirely (Baldwin, 2007). This would mean the HoC would become the single chamber of Parliament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people believe that the HoL is beyond reform and should be rid of in order to improve the (Shell, 2007). Unicameral legislatures are common and have several advantages such as improved public accountability and efficient lawmaking (Carroll, 1942). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Remarks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question of what, if anything, should be done about the HoL? As a completely unelected institution, does its power undermine the legitimacy of the lawmaking process? Or could a replacement institution change the system in ways that might not be fully understood?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baldwin, N.D., 2007. The House of Lords\u2013Into the Future?.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BBC News (2023). Why Are Asylum Seekers Being Sent to Rwanda and How Many Could go? BBC News. [online] 13 Dec. Available at: https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/explainers-61782866<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carroll, D.B., 1942. Unicameralism. U. Kan. City L. Rev., 11, p.3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clark, D. (2022). UK population median age 2020. [online] Statista. Available at: https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/281288\/median-age-of-the-population-of-the-uk\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norton, P., 2020. Replace. In Reform of the House of Lords (pp. 47-55). Manchester University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell, M. (2013). The contemporary House of Lords : Westminster bicameralism revived. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell, M. (2017). Don\u2019t abolish the Lords. History shows it really can be reformed | Meg Russell. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2017\/feb\/23\/dont-abolish-house-of-lords-history-reformed-second-chamber-change [Accessed 2 Jun. 2019].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russell, M., 2023. House of Lords reform: navigating the obstacles. Institute for Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shell, D., 2007. The House of Lords. Manchester University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sullivan, W. (2021). House of Lords: Hereditary peers are being \u2018elected\u2019 to parliament in a mockery of democracy. [online] The Scotsman. Available at: https:\/\/www.scotsman.com\/news\/opinion\/columnists\/hereditary-peers-by-elections-are-a-mockery-of-democracy-willie-sullivan-3320740 [Accessed 3 Feb. 2024].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK Parliament (n.d.). The Legislative Process. Available at: https:\/\/publications.parliament.uk\/pa\/ld201719\/ldselect\/ldconst\/393\/39305.htm [Accessed 1 Feb. 2024].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200cUK Parliament (2011). History of the House of Lords. [online] UK Parliament. Available at: https:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/business\/lords\/lords-history\/history-of-the-lords\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK Parliament. (2017). Membership and principal office holders. [online] Available at: https:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/about\/faqs\/house-of-lords-faqs\/lords-members\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YouGov (2023). To what extent do you support or oppose the government\u2019s proposed policy to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda? | Daily Question. [online] Available at: https:\/\/yougov.co.uk\/topics\/politics\/survey-results\/daily\/2023\/06\/30\/726e7\/1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Figure 1: (Source: Sullivan, 2021) Clerks of the House of Lords lined up in their traditional wigs.  Following a heated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1525,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1525"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions\/268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/pb-happ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}