It has been widely reported that ninety-two hereditary members of the House of Lords will, probably this year, lose their seats because it’s not fair that members of the lucky sperm club get to swank around in ermine and coronets. They are red (blue?) meat thrown to the left wing of the Labour Party.
Two of the hereditaries may in some form stay on: The Lord Great Chamberlain and The Earl Marshal. It is a supreme irony that the ninety being ejected are the only members of the upper house who have been elected, albeit from a small electorate. But we must be rational and accept that it’s time that democracy is seen in action. Hold your horses. This year the appointment of bishops in the Lords is changing. Twenty-six bishops sit in the Lords: The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester, and the next twenty-one most senior diocesan bishops (with the exception of the Bishop in Europe and the Bishop of Sodor and Man). Sodor and Man can console themselves as they are ex officio members of the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man (the upper house of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man). But this Buggins’ turn has been overturned. Now any female bishop takes precedence for membership of the Lords over her more senior male counterparts. I wonder if the Garrick has the same policy?
The hereditary peers leaving the Lords can now enrich the Commons with their wisdom and experience. Lord Palmerston sat in the Commons, relieved of the duty of sitting in the Lords by his Irish peerage. More recently Sir Richard Needham, Conservative MP 1979 – 1997, was able to swerve the Lords as his title is also Irish. He is the 6th Earl of Kilmorey. Meanwhile the Lifers are unable to stand for the Commons unless they resign their peerages, something they seem reluctant to do. I might vote for an hereditary Peer if one stands in my constituency.
How do other bicameral legislatures operate? On a fact finding trip to Oslo in 2015 I found Norway abolished its second chamber in 2009. In Ireland the Senate has sixty members. Eleven are nominated by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), six by university graduates (three Universty of Dublin, three National University of Ireland) and forty-three are from panels of candidates representing specific interests like agriculture, business, education, culture, etc. Like the House of Lords they are a revising body and cannot block legislation. If the House of Lords could be unshackled from political patronage it would serve us a great deal better and could learn from the Irish template.