What’s the Future for the House of Lords?
| Author | Ben Williams |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/20419058231167266 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
22 POLITICAL INSIGHT • MARCH 2023
Labour leader Keir Starmer has
pledged to abolish the House
of Lords. Ben Williams traces
the history of Britain’s second
chamber and asks whether
radical reform of ‘the Lords’ is
likely, or even desirable.
In 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
rmly 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 rst 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?
© Justin Tallis / Alamy Stock Photo
Political Insight March 2023 BU.indd 22Political Insight March 2023 BU.indd 22 27/02/2023 13:5027/02/2023 13:50
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