Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Friday, November 26, 2010

Appointed upper house

For all the talk of the history of Britain's democracy, the upper house of the legislature is still an appointed body. A recent change is that one can no longer inherit a seat in Lords. There is some talk of further reforming the House of Lords, its members are appointed by the Queen. Here's a report on the newest Lords.

Michael Grade is among 53 people to receive peerages

Former BBC and ITV Chairman Michael Grade and Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes will be among more than 50 new members of the House of Lords.

The two - who will become Tory peers - will be joined by other well-known figures including Joan Bakewell, who will sit on the Labour benches.

The list also includes several major party donors…

The SNP… has warned that elevating major party donors risks undermining confidence in the Lords and raising fresh questions about the link between party donations and peerages…

Those becoming Conservative peers are Bob Edmiston, a multi-millionaire car salesman, who gave £2m to the party before the 2005 election…

Curry tycoon Sir Gulam Noon… gave £737,826 to the Labour Party between May 2001 and April 2010, as well as donating £17,000 to David Miliband's unsuccessful leadership campaign…

Labour is currently the largest single party in the Lords with 234 peers, compared with the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats which have 193 and 79 peers respectively. There are currently 181 independent crossbenchers.

With 53 new appointments, it will take the total membership of the House of Lords to nearly 750 - the highest number since the bulk of hereditary peers were abolished in 1999...

The coalition has said it will publish outline plans for future reform of the House of Lords before the end of the year, with many Lib Dems - and Labour MPs - calling for a fully elected chamber.

Peter Facey, of campaign group Unlock Democracy, said: "If politicians and prime ministers want to reward their friends, instead of sending them to the House of Lords, what's wrong with a gold watch?

"People who make and amend our laws should be elected by the public, not selected for good deeds done in the past by grateful politicians…"

See also: New members of the House of Lords
Of course, there are downsides to appointing your political allies to Lords.

Cameron hit by class war as new peer says benefits are 'incentive to breed'

David Cameron's judgment was called into question last night after a new Conservative peer was forced to apologise over remarks that benefit cuts would encourage "breeding" among the poor.

The comment, by Howard Flight, whose elevation to the House of Lords was announced last week, was a new blow to Mr Cameron's drive to convince voters that the party is in touch with modern Britain...