Unfinished Business: New report shows routes to an elected Second Chamber Reform of the House of Lords is both hugely popular with the public and very long overdue. Yet in any serious discussion of how to achieve reform, the same questions come up: What about Commons... Posted 11 Dec 2023
David Cameron’s seat at the cabinet table means a seat for life in the Lords David Cameron was appointed as Foreign Secretary this week – but he’s not been an MP since 2016. How is he then taking one of the great offices of state? He’s not going to stand... Posted 16 Nov 2023
Resignation honours are the worst, but all patronage is bad The fact that Liz Truss’s short-term premiership can result in lifetime appointments to the house of House of Lords has rightfully angered many. But it is just an example of business as usual in Westminster,... Posted 23 Aug 2023
Liz Truss’ resignation honours could be a turning point for reform News reports this weekend revealed that Liz Truss’s controversial honours list is making its way through the vetting process with the Cabinet Office and House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC). This suggests that the UK’s... Posted 16 Aug 2023
How honourable are honours lists? Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list caused quite a kerfuffle between the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) and the current and former PM. This all led to a rather slimmed-down list from the much speculated... Posted 11 Jul 2023
The row over Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list highlights why it should be the last The recent days have seen the national focus pulled onto the House of Lords through the public row between Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson over the latter’s resignation honours list. While the spat has provided... Posted 13 Jun 2023
New polling shows 61% oppose Boris Johnson’s resignation peerages Our new polling has found that just one in 14 people (7%) support Boris Johnson stuffing more peers into the already bulging House of Lords with his resignation honours list. Polling of 2,050 people, conducted... Posted 28 Mar 2023
How we could make the House of Lords gender equal overnight It is a quiet scandal that 105 years after women first won the vote they are still grossly under-represented in Parliament. Women make up just over a third of MPs in the Commons and the... Posted 08 Mar 2023
Are there whips in the House of Lords? From 1990s TV series House of Cards to James Graham’s play This House, the role of the Whip in British politics has long been a source of fascination. While much is said of Whips in... Posted 17 Feb 2023
Brown Commission reforms offer first blueprint for much-needed democratic renewal Gordon Brown has now released A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy – the findings of his Commission into how to repair our political system. In publishing this report, Keir Starmer is... Posted 06 Dec 2022