Life-time appointments to Lords should not be handed out as rewards for failure A seat in the House of Lords is a lifetime appointment to make our laws, not a gift to be handed out by a prime minister as they head out the door. Yet the prime... Posted 01 Nov 2022
A majority of people oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to pack the Lords with new peers Our new polling has found that the majority of people (54%) oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to pack the Lords with new peers just weeks before he leaves office. Some prime ministers appoint a group of... Posted 16 Aug 2022
It’s time to scrap the tradition of resignation honours Boris Johnson cannot be allowed to use his final days in power to pack the Lords with his supporters and allies. Boris Johnson’s days in Downing Street are numbered but that hasn’t stopped him planning... Posted 29 Jul 2022
Johnson’s resignation honours list will last a lifetime With the Prime Minister set to exit Downing Street in the near future, attention has turned to who’s staying behind: his resignation honours list. It is tradition for departing PMs to create new life peerages... Posted 28 Jul 2022
Two aristocrats have won the right to make laws for life with just 27 votes Just weeks after 70,000 people cast their votes to elect two new MPs in the Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections, two hereditary peers were gifted the life-long right to make the laws we all... Posted 07 Jul 2022
ERS in the Press: January 2022 Scandal and crisis at the heart of government have dominated the news as we begin 2022. Yet in a packed news cycle of covid regulation breaking parties in Downing Street, and a pantomime-esque will-they-won’t-they over... Posted 04 Feb 2022
How are the members of upper houses chosen around the world? Many countries use a bicameral political system – meaning that they have two chambers in their parliament. These parliaments are comprised of a lower house where the government is formed and day-to-day politics is carried... Posted 27 Jan 2022
The top 5 most-read ERS articles from 2021 Every year we have a look through the stats to see which of our articles were the most popular with readers in the year coming to a close. So if you missed them the first... Posted 13 Dec 2021
A Labour Peer is trying to abolish hereditary peers (again) There is overwhelming support for reform but Friday once again showed there is little chance of it succeeding. On Friday 3rd December, for the fourth time in just five years, Labour peer Lord Bruce Grocott... Posted 07 Dec 2021
The aristocratic by-elections continue to make a mockery out of our democracy On the 9th and 10th November, the House of Lords will be hosting their fifth hereditary peer by-election this year. The House of Lords Act 1999 led to the removal of all but 90 hereditary... Posted 08 Nov 2021