The state opening of the House of Lords. How can the institution be reformed for the better?

Let’s be honest: it isn’t going to happen. The coalition has exhausted its energy for constitutional meddling and, with a portmanteau of failure, the last thing it needs is to rake the perennial midden that is House of Lords reform. Looking back, the coalition’s idea was to abolish the lot of them and replace them with a directly elected chamber. This idea was shelved due to the rebellious quarter on David Cameron’s backbenches.

So to replace this idea he came up with another one: to have a proportionate House of Lords—proportionate, that is, on the result of the previous election. Lords would still be appointed, but the appointments would reflect the vote share across the country. Indeed Lord Strathclyde, the former leader of the Conservatives in the Lords, stated that the government is “working towards the objective of creating a second chamber that reflects the share of the votes secured by the political parties at the last general election.”

All pretty clear. Whether it is a good idea or not is a moot point—it is stated policy. Except of course, it isn’t. It again is one of those fine sounding ideas that somehow just melted away. But, if it were taken up, a system like this would mean that the Green party, and of course the United Kingdom Independent party, would all have representation in the House of Lords. (The Scottish National party would also benefit, if it ended its refusal to go to the Lords.)

In fact, under his stated rules, Ukip would be due 24 peers out of the total of 790, as opposed to the three seats that it currently holds in the upper house. When ministers have been asked about this they have responded in the following way: “it is for the Prime Minister to determine the number of nominations for life peerages.” Or, “it is the government’s continued intention that Lords appointments will be made with the objective of creating a second chamber that is reflective of the share of the vote secured by the political parties in the last general election.” Or even, “my Lords, the Prime Minister is still keeping it under review.”

When asked directly by Lord Pearson, one of Ukip’s three peers, this is…

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