Summary
Reform of the House of Lords is an issue which has provoked
intense debate and policy initiatives for over 100 years. The Lords has changed
and evolved through history, and continues to do so.
This White Paper
'House
of Lords: Reform' (Cm. 7027) from the Department for Constitutional Affairs
(DCA) looks at the evolution of the House of Lords, from the
Parliament
Act 1911 to the present day, and discusses current steps towards the reform
of the House of Lords, aiming to set the stage for the upcoming free votes on
the composition of a future House of Lords.
The Paper sets out
proposed principles of composition, which strive to achieve:
- Primacy of the House of Commons and complementary nature of the House of
Lords
- A more legitimate and representative House of Lords
- No
overall majority for any party and no party-political element.
The
Department for Constitutional Affairs also puts forward options for reform,
discussing issues including:
- The cost of removing hereditary Peers
- How a hybrid House of Lords (with 50% of members elected and 50%
appointed) might work
- The future role of Prime Minister's appointments
and the Statutory Appointments Commission.
While the Government
has view on how a reformed House of Lords should be composed, the options for
composition will be put to a free vote in both Houses of Parliament before any
legislation is proposed.
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