Tuesday, February 25, 2025
How accountable is the House of Lords?
The paper says that one in 10 members have been hired to give political or policy advice, according to their own declarations, and others do paid work for companies that could conflict with their role as legislators:
The findings expose weaknesses in the Lords code of conduct and raise questions about whether the rules on lobbying and paid employment should be tightened in line with restrictions signed up to by MPs.
The investigation sheds new light on the extent to which money flows into politics from those who hold peerages or go on to secure them, with more than £100m given to the three main parties over the last two decades, much of it by a small group of influential super-donors.
Many members of the Lords make a valuable contribution to its main purpose of refining and scrutinising legislation. But their numbers have ballooned to 835 after a succession of prime ministers packed the house with donors and party loyalists. Labour has promised some changes, but there are calls for more ambitious reforms to an institution Keir Starmer has previously described as “indefensible”.
Darren Hughes, the chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: “The Lords should not be a political gated community filled with party donors, as well as friends and supporters of various prime ministers. These revelations again underscore the urgent need for Lords reform so there is far greater transparency and accountability to guard against conflicts of interest, which risk further corroding the public’s already rock-bottom trust in politics.”
Over the coming weeks, the Guardian will publish the Lords debate, a months-long investigation that has involved undercover reporting, and extensive analysis of parliamentary records, political donations and official documents.
It will reveal details of how:
* Nearly 100 members of the Lords are paid to give political or policy advice by commercial firms.
* A Labour peer offered access to ministers during discussions to sponsor an event in parliament.
* A former minister has earned millions of pounds since entering the Lords by working for 30 companies.
* Multiple peers are being paid by foreign governments including repressive regimes.
* More than £1 in every £14 donated to political parties since 2001 came from those who have sat as peers in the last parliament.
As the Guardian points out, ministers are in the process of removing the remaining 92 hereditary peers, amid opposition from many Conservative lords. However, further changes promised in the Labour manifesto – including an age limit of 80, reforming the appointments process, setting minimum levels of attendance, and a consultation on replacing the chamber – are yet to take shape and there are fears they will be kicked into the long grass.
More importantly, none of the proposed changes would tighten the rules on lobbying and paid employment. It is about time that government got to grips with reforming this overlarge retirement home for politicians, or better still replace it with an elected second house.
