For and against House of Lords Reform
Human rights reform
Electoral reform
Fixed-term parliament reform
Welsh Devolution reform
Scottish Devolution reform
English Devolution reform
Debates on Further Reform
In Favour of House of Lords Reform Against House of Lords Reform
Lords is Fundamentally undemocratic Membership is now based on merit, not
The Royal Commission under Lord inheritance
Wakeham recommended some reform, The Lords has played a key role in holding
including elected members (up to 195 the government to account in issues such
out of 550) in the year 2000, but the as BREXIT
recommendations have not been enacted Little to gain in having a second chamber
The UK arguably has an ‘elected of elected politicians that would mirror
dictatorship’ so an upper chamber is the commons
needed to counter this Greater power to the lords could cause
It is a good opportunity to use an gridlock
alternative electoral system, so the lords Apolitical and impartial to party politics
won’t mirror the commons Many lords are specialists in their field
92 hereditary peers still remain and offer a wealth of experience
The average age of peers is 71, so is An elected lords would be ‘too political’,
unrepresentative and possibly out of otherwise what would the electorate
touch with modern life vote based on if not political leanings?
Elected peers may be more accountable Current lords don’t have the pressure of
in the eyes of the electorate voting certain ways based on public
26 Church of England Bishops sit in the image and popularity, thus can vote more
lords, therefore has a Christian bias in our authentically using their own expertise
ever-growing multicultural society, and Elected lords would be influenced by
make stunt social progression party whips
Human Rights Reform
Position following BREXIT is unclear
Conservative manifesto spoke of a British Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act 1998,
which would make the UK Supreme Court, not the European Court of Human Rights, the final
court of appeal
A British Bill of Rights would only be an Act of Parliament, not enshrined or reinforced by
European Law as the Human Rights Act is, and so could be revoked or altered
Electoral Reform
The current Conservative government won 43.6% of the vote in 2019, up 1.2% of the vote share
from 2017 and yet gained 48 extra seats.
The Conservative’s 43.6% minority in 2019 was the highest percentage won by any party since
1979, and yet still didn’t have support from the majority of the UK. They still achieved a
landslide 80 seat majority.
Conservatives and SNP would not support electoral reform since FPTP benefits them
Reform isn't likely since the Conservatives tend to remain in government
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