ALDC are proud to support the ‘Fix Parliament’ campaign for a majority-elected House of Lords.
After 100 years of promises, papers, reports and Commissions, it is time for the government to take action and deliver a truly democratic second-chamber. There is no excuse nor justification for half of our parliament being appointed at the whim of party leaders for lifetime terms of office – an arrangement that we share in common with Belize, Burkina Faso, and Jordan. There is no excuse for supporting a system that allows some lawmakers to inherit their office – an arrangement that we currently share only with Lesotho. There is no excuse for more than half of Great Britain’s lawmakers to sit in Parliament without an electoral mandate from the public. It is an affront to democracy and it has to end.
Speaking to the Electoral Reform Society, Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander revealed some startling facts about the larger half of the UK Parliament:
- More than 25% of Lords are ex-MP’s
- 70% owe their place to a party political appointment
- 50% of the House come from London and the South East alone
- Only 20% are women
- 40% trace their educational backgrounds to just 12 private schools
The current House of Lords clearly does not reflect the country it helps to govern.
As Liberal Democrats, we want to see all lawmakers hold their place in parliament only through the will of the British people as expressed in a free and fair election.
Whilst only 80% of the Lords will be elected under this reform, this will still be the greatest step forward for our politics since the final extension of the franchise to all women in 1928. Those who would make the perfect the enemy of the good – opposing reform in the name of a 100% elected Lords – are just as conservative as the ermined defenders of unearned privilege in the second-chamber today.
We have campaigned for an elected House of Lords for over 100 years, and we will continue the fight for as long as it takes. Every man and woman in Britain is within touching distance of living in a truly democratic state for the first time in our lives. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we should all seize with both hands.
More information about the Fix Parliament campaign can be found on their Facebook page.