House of Lords: new peerages prompt 'weary disgust'
The 'arms race' to pack the chamber with loyalists shows the system is 'well and truly bust', say critics
The addition of 45 new lords and ladies in the House of Lords – pushing the total number of peers to well over 800 – has been described as "utterly preposterous".
The government yesterday revealed the names of 26 Tory, 11 Liberal Democrat and eight Labour peers. Former MP Douglas Hogg, who was exposed in the expenses scandal for trying to charge taxpayers £2,200 to clean his moat, is among the Conservatives. Multimillionaire donor James Lupton and Ultimo bra entrepreneur Michelle Mone will also become Tory peers. All will be eligible to claim £300 a day for turning up at the chamber.
The announcement has reignited debate about a comprehensive overhaul of the unelected chamber.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"No one with a proper regard for British public life can fail to be depressed – wearily disgusted, even – by yesterday's peerages," says Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail.
He believes only five of them – former party leaders William Hague and Sir Menzies Campbell, former chancellor Alistair Darling, former home secretary David Blunkett and welfare reform adviser Philippa Stroud – deserve their places. "The rest are a mixture of time-servers, leaders' mates, downright dregs and at least one hefty donor to party funds," he says.
Oliver Wright, The Independent's Whitehall editor, says Cameron has been accused of hypocrisy for nominating hundreds of political appointees but limiting the independent crossbench peers to two a year.
Katie Ghose, chief executive for the Electoral Reform Society, described the expansion as a "constant arms race to pack the chamber with loyalists, whichever party is in power" and "shows the system is well and truly bust".
A Downing Street spokesman said that the Prime Minister wants the House of Lords to address reform itself.
In The Guardian, Martin Kettle says the new appointments have taken the total number of peers to 826 and the total number of Westminster legislators, including MPs, to 1,476.
"These are figures so utterly preposterous that merely to state them is to make an irresistible case for radical change in the size and purpose of the second chamber," he says.
Kettle adds that in any other profession the idea of rewarding those who help steered the Labour party to defeat and the Lib Dems "on to the rocks" would seem "scandalous" – but apparently not in politics.
"To an outsider, it would seem obvious that all this absurdity should push reform or abolition of the Lords up the political agenda," he says. "To insiders, however, the bloated Lords, though occasionally embarrassing, is a career necessity."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
How the biggest election year in history might play out
The Explainer Votes in world's biggest democracies, as well as its most 'despotic' and 'stressed' countries, face threats of violence and suppression
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Good democracies include their poorest citizens. The UK excludes them'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published