Elect The House Of Lords - Did You Know Most Lords Are From The South East

15th February 2021

From the Electoral Reform Society.

Elect the House of Lords

From stories of peers leaving taxis running to claim their expenses to failing to turn up for years at a time, the Lords makes a mockery of our democracy.

For far too many of its members, the second chamber of our parliament is a cosy club for the privileged few.

But this is not just another private members' club - it is one which has real powers over the law of the land.

We're basically alone in Europe for having a fully-unelected revising chamber. And no other country in the democratic world has a second chamber bigger than ours. Globally, only Communist China has a bigger body, and they merely meet to rubber stamp government policies. France manages on 348 members. Spain with 265. India, with over a billion people, and Japan have just 245 members each.

It's time to abolish the bloated House of Lords and create a new chamber to revise our legislation - one where the public picks the members, and can hold them accountable.

How much does the House of Lords cost?

It seems the only time the public is allowed into the House of Lords is to pay the bill.

The House of Lords isn't just an affront to voters, it's an unacceptable burden on the public purse.

Peers are able to claim £323 a day tax-free each day they attend, plus some travel costs. Between April 2019 and March 2020, £17.7 million was spent on Lords allowances and expenses, with the average peer claiming £30,687.

Decentralising power

Currently, the House of Lords is dominated by London, the South East and East of England, with a majority of peers (56%) for whom we have a place of residence living in these three regions (more than 300 peers refuse to state even the country they live in).

By contrast, peers in the East and West Midlands make up just six percent between them - leaving many areas of the UK woefully underrepresented

Abolishing the outdated and unrepresentative House of Lords offers a chance to rebalance politics away from Westminster - and create a representative Senate of the Nations and Regions.

An elected, territorial second chamber could serve as a forum in which the UK's constituent parts could work together in the 21st century, and would guarantee a voice for the nations and regions of the UK, to speak as one, to scrutinise legislation and our constitutional settlement with clear communities in mind.

Read more and sign the petition to change things