While the House of Lords has been struck with the hooker and drug scandal of Lord Sewel, Prime Minister David Cameron has indicated that he could appoint a series of new peers to the House of Lords, to ensure the upper house reflects the fact that Tories hold a majority in the Commons. A new list of peerage, running to 50 new members, is expected to be announced some time this week, as appointments can also be made during the Parliamentary recess.
Amidst strong opposition, the PM insists there are 'very good and fair reasons' for reshaping the balance of power in the Lords, as the Tories are outnumbered there by other parties when combined.
He has also reportedly suggested that elderly peers should be 'encouraged' to retire to create room for new appointees. Currently there are 783 peers eligible to take part in the Lords proceedings, including 192 women, making it the second largest legislature in the world after the Chinese national People's Congress. It has 26 Bishops, 670 life peers and 87 expected hereditary peers. The House costs the tax payer £93.1 million in 2013/14, which covered everything from building maintenance to IT and staff costs. The only three paid positions are Lord Speaker (£101,038), Lord Sewel's former post as Chairman of Committees (£84,524) and Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees (£79,076).
Members of the House of Lords are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. Attempts to reform the system were abandoned in the last Parliament amid strong backbench opposition. The House was hit with expenses scandal, where the members deliberately cheated on claims they were not entitled to. This included Asian peers like Lady Pola Uddin, Lord Swraj Paul and Baron Amir Bhatia. However, Lady Uddin was later made to pay £124,000 in 2010 after exploiting the second home rules. Lord Paul repaid £42,000 for acting 'irresponsibly' over his expenses. Baron Bhatia was suspended for eight months in 2010 for overclaiming £27,000.
The reality stays that appointing more peers would actually go against Mr Cameron’s long-standing pledge to reduce the cost of politics. However, Mr Cameron said that savings would be found by cutting the number of MPs from 650 to 600. How to reform the House of Lords has rumbled for decades. Tony Blair made the most drastic change in 1999 when he culled 600 hereditary peers. A bill to have 80 percent of the current 783 Lords elected and 20 per cent nominated was dropped in 2012, with the fear that an elected house will threaten the power of House of Commons.
It is believed that the Tories have suffered a series of defeats in the Lords, because they do not hold a majority there. With the EU referendum getting closer, it is widely believed that Mr Cameron is perhaps trying to ensure that they are as strong in Lords as they are in the Commons. The House of Lords currently has 226 sitting Tory peers, against Labour’s 212, 179 Crossbenchers and 102 Liberal Democrats. That is despite the Liberal Democrats now holding just 8 MPs.
Lord Cormack called for an overhaul so the house does not keep growing bigger. Tory MP Philip Davies and Labour MP Stephen Pound also demanded changes to the unelected chamber. Mr Pound reportedly went on to say: “We do need a second chamber, but it should be a similar size to the first chamber. If we are cutting the Commons to 600, then it makes for me for the Lords to be 600 too.”
