King’s Speech signals first moves on Lords and electoral reform

Author:
Darren Hughes, Chief Executive

Posted on the 24th July 2024

The first King’s Speech of any new government is a significant political moment. Amid the ostentation and pomp of the ceremony, the government lays out in detail the plans for its legislation in the new session of Parliament. Last week’s King Speech covered many areas but also touched on the areas of constitutional reform the government plans to reform.

Birthright seats in Parliament have no place in a modern democracy

First off, the King’s Speech outlined the initial, crucial steps starting the much-needed reform of the House of Lords. It announced its plans to remove the remaining 92 all-male hereditary peers, which is long-overdue as people receiving a job-for-life in Parliament due to birth-right has no place in a modern democracy.

This is an incredibly promising and welcome step in the right direction. We have long campaigned for the removal of these Lords – who sit in the House simply based on who their parents are.

ERS Chief Executive Darren Hughes on BBC News after the King's Speech, welcoming the announcements on House of Lords reform and the end of hereditary peers.

Great to see plans to improve democratic participation

Elsewhere, the King’s Speech signalled the government’s plans to encourage greater participation in the democratic process. As we await the details of this legislation, we hope this will cover a number of measures we’ve long campaigned for – such as extending the franchise to 16 or moving to automatic voter registration.

The low-turnout election we have just witnessed combined with the record low levels of trust in politics show that we need to correct the course on which our democracy is headed.

Participation is a vital sign of the health of our democracy, and the introduction of measures such as voter ID in recent years mean people now face more barriers to casting their vote than at previous elections.

It is crucial that we reverse this trend by expanding access to voting and making it easier for people to exercise their basic democratic right.

The task of repairing and strengthening our democracy is vital in order to improve participation and rebuild trust in our politics. For too long it has felt as though the democratic reform agenda has stalled or, in some places, gone backwards. So it is very welcome to see a King’s Speech signalling the first measures to get our democracy moving in a healthier direction.

It’s time to finish the job on Lords reform

Removing the hereditary peers is an excellent first step on the route to reforming our bloated, outdated House of Lords. However, the Lords still remains an undemocratic body, where un-elected lawmakers take part in political decision-making without democratic accountability or representation.

This is just the start of the much-needed process towards wholesale reform of replacing the current unelected, unlimited Lords with a smaller, elected house. One that represents the whole of the UK, democratically and fairly.

Ultimately, it should be the people of this country, not prime ministers, who choose who sits in the upper house of parliament shaping the laws we all live under.

Add your name to our call to place power rightfully back in the hands of the people

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