Closed petition Democratic and Fiscal Reform of the House of Lords

Closed on 30 January 2016

There are currently 790 ‘members’ eligible to take part in the work of the House of Lords at a cost to the taxpayer which exceeds £100m per annum. Most of these ‘members’ are life peers and all are unelected which effectively means that we who fund them have no say at all in their appointment.

This unelected status no longer has a place in a 21st century democratic Great Britain so we need to deliver radical reform that creates a second House that is fully elected. Additionally, given the current state of our public finances, we should aim to deliver a second House that is more affordable, and ideally has no more than 50 ‘members’. I would also propose that membership should be open to anyone who is suitably qualified and not restricted to current House of Lords members.