The extent of reform of House of Lords membership in the century since the Parliament Act of 1911

While political compulsions arising from partisan politics has thwarted comprehensive reforms of the House of Lords, one need not be entirely pessimistic about reform prospects in the immediate future.  Billy Bragg, whose popularity as a cultural icon has risen in the last decade, has recommended a novel solution to the reform deadlock, whereby an authoritative second chamber could be created without being the equal of the House of Commons.  What is referred to as the ‘secondary mandate’ entails indirect elections that will ensure distribution of seats on a regional basis corresponding to the votes cast during the General Elections.  This would ensure that no single party will always end up on the side of the majority.  Due to the fact that members to the second chamber will only be elected indirectly, their status will not be the same as other Members of Parliament.  Lower in status they might be, but their position will carry sufficient legitimacy for them to play an active role in policy making.  This proposal is not without its deficiencies.  For example,

“Members would only serve two terms and Bragg leaves very few seats for independents, such a strong feature of the current House of Lords. He also glosses over the need to sort out the powers of the Upper House… Since the removal of most hereditary peers in 1999 the Lords has become much more assertive, voting down secondary legislation, threatening to filibuster and wreck key planks of Government legislation. If the primacy of the Commons is to be maintained, as all the political parties are agreed on, the limits of the powers of the second chamber will have to be     defined in legislation”. [15]

Hence, in conclusion, the hundred years since the introduction of the Parliament Act of 1911 has seen small incremental Lords reforms.  The reform process got renewed attention after the Second World War and whenever the Labour Party held power.  There were even calls in the 1970s and 1980s for the complete abolition of the Lords – a move that was deemed too radical to be considered politically viable, and hence was given up.  While small incremental reforms had taken place in each decade since the implementation of the Parliament Act of 1911, it wasn’t until the recently concluded New Labour reign that radical changes have been brought about.  Since 1997, under the Prime Ministership of Tony Blair several reform initiatives have been successfully implemented while some others remain at the level of debate and discussion.  The last decade saw the emergence of several novel and innovative solutions to the problems associated with House of Lords.  The suggestion made by Billy Bragg is one such; although it has not materialized into law as yet.  But the Lords reform continues to be at the forefront of all election campaigns and has become a key part of the nation’s political discourse.  While the reform process has seen a lot of positives in the century since 1911, there is still scope for more improvements.  Only by pursuing the reform process, would the nation approach the ideal of democratic functioning.