House of Lords: Reform

Viscount Younger of Leckie Excerpts

Tuesday 21st June 2011 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

My Lords, I attach my colours to the wall, next to so many of your Lordships’ colours, on the side of the House that is fundamentally against a wholly or partially elected upper Chamber. I think we need a larger wall. The prime reason for doing so, as has been stated by many of your Lordships today, is that conflict would arise between both Houses in the legislative process with the threat to the supremacy of the lower House and related conventions.

However, there are some further significant reasons. I wish to focus attention on the abolition of the role of the Peer, its replacement job description of senator and some practical differences between election and appointment. These changes would be significant and would alter holistically, for the worse, the nature, objectives, functions and effectiveness of this House.

A senator would be elected by a large constituency. Constituents would vote in a senator for reasons beyond the fulfilment of duties in the House of Lords as we know them today. Even if senators were not expected to do so, and even if they stated that laws or conventions did not permit them to do so, they would additionally and rapidly be drawn into regular communication with electors who would seek advice and require answers to problems and concerns in return for their votes.

If senators sought election, it would be strange if they did not present and promote manifestos. It would be strange if they did not make certain promises to secure success over other candidates. Therefore, a senator would be tasked with a substantial workload, including letters, phone calls, requests to speak, and approaches and demands from lobby groups, and with increased media attention on them. They would also become a conduit for constituents who, unhappy on occasion with responses from their MP, would try their luck with their senator. Thus the de facto job title will be senator and deputy MP. It follows that senators would need staff, at some cost. Above all, this workload would be a distraction and a disruption from fulfilling legislative scrutiny, a duty described as “a vital role” for senators in the draft Bill.

We should be wary about making analogies with senators in other countries with different constitutions from ours. However, it is interesting to note that written in to a US senator’s job description, under the heading “primary functions”, is the task of introducing Bills to Congress based on the needs and requests of constituents. Why would our elected senators here not have similar responsibilities placed on them, leading to their inevitable politicisation, with a strong regional or local, rather than national, bias? These duties should clearly remain within the bailiwick of the lower House. Could my noble friend the Minister explain how senators could possibly ignore all such approaches from constituents and pass the buck to the appropriate MP?

If voters are shunned and promises broken, I foresee that our reputation as a House would rapidly plummet in the eyes of the electorate. This would not restore faith in the political class, nor increase voter turnout at elections. As a double whammy, when constituents perceive that senators are not representing their interests as they expect, they will have to wait for up to 15 years before their period of office is up, as the noble Lord, Lord Sewel, pointed out.

The second point about an elected system is, with abolition, how do you replicate in this House the breadth and depth of experience, skills and professional backgrounds universally regarded as an essential ingredient for an effective upper Chamber? The majority of Peers are here because they were approached for their knowledge and expertise. Election means candidates would proffer themselves, initiating and paying for a campaign, and canvassing opinion—in effect stepping into the shoes of a politician.

I ask my noble friend the Minister how likely it is that our preferred candidates will put their hats in the ring to do this. Surely the majority have no desire to promote themselves in a political manner, nor have they experience of doing so. Most candidates for this Chamber will find this process well outside their comfort zone. However, they remain potentially immensely valuable to this House. Therefore, I believe that the optimum knowledge and experience for this House can only be realised if candidates are sought out with no election. Does my noble friend agree that an elected system is weak in that it relies only on those who are willing to put themselves forward as a candidate? It cannot be deemed to be an improvement on the appointments system.

Finally, I believe that the proposed number of 300 senators is much too low to best ensure the full asset value of this House. Does my noble friend the Minister agree that the level should be based on need, not historic attendance figures? The number should be at least 400, as my noble friend Lord Jopling suggested, allowing also for absences and illnesses.

I echo the words of my noble friend Lord Steel of Aikwood that this draft Bill is produced solely so its proponents can rub their hands in satisfaction and say, “There you are—job done; most of them are now elected”, without having regard to the profound and damaging changes to our parliamentary system.