What’s the Future for the House of Lords?

Abstract

I n December 2022, Sir Keir Starmer declared that the House of Lords is ‘not capable of being defended’. The Labour leader’s intervention thrust the chamber firmly into the political spotlight ahead of the next general election. Proposals to reform this archaic institution are regular occurrences in the political cycle, and Starmer’s plans provoked an unsurprising Conservative reaction. But what is the current status of the House of Lords, and how likely is reform? As the unelected upper chamber of the British Parliament, the House of Lords has traditionally been pivotal to the country’s constitutional structure. Dating back to medieval times and first formally noted in the late 13th century, the Lords has had an eventful and often controversial history. In wholly functional terms, its ‘revising’ legislative role within a bicameral system is viewed by its advocates as enhancing the smooth legislative workings of Parliament. Since 1911 its undemocratic nature – members are not directly elected by popular franchise – has made it formally inferior in terms of power compared to the House of Commons, but constitutional conservatives ardently hold that it continues to play a vital parliamentary role, albeit within the context of a widely accepted Commons ascendancy. Others however, have been more critical about the purpose that the Lords serves. For example, in 1962 Tony Benn, while campaigning to disown his own hereditary peerage, alluded to what he perceived as What’s the Future for the House of Lords?