Ten months after the last government ended, it is still able to stuff yet more peers into the grossly oversized House of Lords. On Friday, Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours list was published, ennobling seven Conservative figures including former minister Michael Gove.
Seeing even more unelected politicians created is never a great moment for our democracy, but this list is a particular cause for concern as it comes at a time when trust in our politics has slumped to record lows. It meant the public was again witnessing the spectacle of a former prime minster stuffing even more friends and allies into the already ludicrously bloated House of Lords – handing each one a job for life in Parliament.
This business-as-usual ‘jobs for mates’ approach at Westminster will do nothing to arrest that alarming collapse in public trust.
At over 800 members, the Lords is already the second-largest legislative chamber in the world after China’s National People’s Congress, and Rishi Sunak’s resignation list means that the last government shovelled 149 new peers in total into the House of Lords. Following this list, the total peers created by Sunak stands at 46, in addition to the 71 new peers by Boris Johnson and 32 by Liz Truss.
Last government shovelled over 140 new peers into the already bloated Lords
Meanwhile, the current government will still likely need to add dozens more in addition to the 45 new peers it has already created to become the largest party in the upper house, as the previous government was. The growth in the numbers of those sitting on the crimson benches in the upper house continues unabated, meaning the UK remains in the embarrassing position of having a majority-unelected parliament.
Even when the remaining 88 hereditary peers are removed it won’t touch the sides, especially while the ‘firehose’ system of unlimited, undemocratic appointments to the Lords remains.
It is clear that the Lords as it currently operates is not sustainable and urgently needs to be reformed into a smaller, democratic chamber, with a set number of members who properly reflect all four corners of the UK – not just an endless stream of friends, allies and donors of current and past prime ministers.
Those sitting in the House of Lords shape the laws that affect every person in this country, which is why they should be chosen by and accountable to the people who live under those laws.
The only people who should get to choose our lawmakers should be us, the public. Do you agree?
Add your name to our call for an elected second chamber