What should replace the House of Lords?

The UK has a new prime minister and we may have entered a new era of constitutional change. Andy Burnham has spoken positively of electoral reform, devolving power to local government within England, a written constitution, and reform of the House of Lords. 

The UK does not have a single document called a ‘constitution’, and so changes to our institutions occurs incrementally, rather than by a formal process of amendment. Over the last 30 years, there have been three incremental changes of this kind. The first has been the creation of devolved parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These have taken over responsibility for domestic policy in their countries, leaving the Parliament in Westminster as a de facto parliament for England for much of its legislation. Devolved parliaments have therefore reversed to some degree the characteristic centralisation of government in the UK. Even so, the new devolved government in Scotland has maintained this tradition by rapidly centralising all public services in Edinburgh. 

Services in England are moving in the opposite direction. The second major constitutional change in the UK has been the creation of elected metro mayors heading strategic (or ‘combined’) authorities. The first such elected metro mayor was in London, which also has an elected assembly and 32 elected borough councils. The new strategic authorities outside London have councils of members nominated by the constituent local government authorities. The new metro mayors have responsibility for transport, economic development and regeneration, while some also run police and fire services. At present, 48% of the English population live in 19 areas with strategic authorities, but it is probable the whole country will follow in the next three years. The Government proposes greater devolution of funding and tax-raising powers to these authorities. 

The third major constitutional change is to the House of Lords. Hereditary peers finally lost any right to sit in the House in 2026. But the resulting chamber is hardly satisfactory. It currently has over 770 members, all but 26 of whom are appointed for life by the government of the day. The average age is 70 years. The 26 exceptions are bishops nominated by the Church of England, making the UK (with Iran and Vatican City) one of only three countries in the world with religious nominees in its legislature. There have been proposals to impose a retirement age and a minimum rate of attendance (about 300 lords attend infrequently). But there is an important case for replacing the house by one chosen in a different way. 

Several countries have upper houses that are directly elected, usually with either different constituencies or different electoral systems than the lower house. This is favoured in countries with federal constitutions, on the belief that the upper house will protect the interests of the provinces/states. But this kind of upper house usually just comprises another nationally-oriented cadre of politicians with no additional knowledge or skills but with a temptation to use their power to impede the wishes of the lower house. This is true even with the House of Lords, in which some members have used an endless sequence of amendments to delay and finally see off the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill, passed earlier by a large majority in the House of Commons.  

Germany provides an example of how an upper house can provide additional expertise and can protect the interests of the constituent regions of the country. The Bundesrat (upper house) has 69 members allocated in a rough proportion to the population of each land (province). Members are delegates sent by the government of each land, which always include its ministerpräsident (premier). If political control changes in an individual land, then a new delegation to the Bundesrat is appointed immediately. The Bundesrat is not an amending chamber, but it can delay legislation and its approval is required when a law would have an effect on the lands or if they would have to participate in its enforcement. The system is designed to avoid delay while ensuring that the government operates as a partnership between the federal and the land governments. 

How would the German model work in the UK? The House of Lords would be replaced by a House of Nations and Regions, comprising delegations from the three devolved parliaments and from the English strategic authorities. Delegations would be proportionate to population, and would automatically include the three first ministers and the metro mayors. The consent of the House would be needed if legislation proposed changes to the powers of the national parliaments or strategic authorities. For other legislation, the House would give advice but would not have the power of amendment. An upper house of this kind would thereby protect the powers of devolved parliaments and regions, while also avoiding the kind of political delaying tactics that can impede effective government.