What is the main purpose of the House of Lords? Even those of you out there who have a passing knowledge of our campaigning work will know we are not the greatest cheerleaders for the House of Lords. Who could blame us? If you asked... Posted 21 Aug 2019
200 years since the Peterloo Massacre, Westminster is still broken The events of 2019 have put the problems of Westminster’s system into sharp focus. From discussions about the Prime Minister proroguing parliament, to MPs leaving main parties to form their own (only to splinter within... Posted 16 Aug 2019
Asking Theresa May To Show ‘Restraint’ In Her Resignation Honours Misses The Point – The Lords Is Bust When even Peers are calling for an overhaul of the House of Lords, you know the chamber is broken. A few weeks ago, the Lord Speaker’s committee – set up in response to concerns over... Posted 06 Aug 2019
Ending the Politics of Division – How We Can Build a New Democracy Ten years on from the expenses scandal that rocked trust in our politics and nearly three years since this Brexit deadlock began, Britain’s broken political system remains largely unchanged. No one can deny it: the... Posted 25 May 2019
Why replacing the unelected House of Lords is key to the movement for fair votes For far too many of its members, the second chamber of our Parliament is a private members’ club. The House of Lords – the UK’s revising chamber – is packed to the brim with appointees... Posted 22 Mar 2019
How hereditary aristocrats are still trying to call the shots in Parliament On Friday, a handful of hereditary aristocrats managed to club together to stop even the most modest of attempts to modernise the House of Lords. Lord Grocott’s bill would have ended the absurd practice of... Posted 19 Mar 2019
These three peers should not be allowed to stand in the way of democracy In a week dominated by Brexit, it’s easy to forget that there are other topics still on the political agenda. While our MPs once again grapple over just what kind of Brexit would ‘take back... Posted 15 Mar 2019
The Burns Report – Where Are We One Year On? Mariya Green reflects on some of the research undertaken during her placement at the ERS The report of the Lord Speaker’s Committee on the Size of the House of Lords – more commonly known as... Posted 11 Dec 2018
Lords lost in stasis as fake reforms go nowhere Politics is often dominated by disagreements, but one thing almost everyone agrees on is this: the House of Lords is too big. At 800 members, we have the largest second chamber in the world. So... Posted 02 Nov 2018
There’s a sham election happening in Parliament. Here’s what you need to know The idea that people can become lawmakers for life – simply because they were born into the ‘right’ family – is, to most of us, absurd. Yet in the UK, in 2018, this is the... Posted 04 Jun 2018