House of lords how many seats

The number of peers would have been almost halved, from to They would have served year terms of office, after which they could stand for re-election. Under this system, peers would have represented a specific part of the United Kingdom, elected via the Single Transferable Vote system of proportional representation. Some peers would continue to be appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister although the number of Church of England bishops would have been reduced.

All hereditary peers would have been removed. Some Labour MPs want the House of Lords to be a completely elected chamber, while other Conservative MPs argued that the Lords works effectively as it is and that the government should focus on more urgent issues like the economy or Brexit. The Coalition Government abandoned the House of Lords Reform Bill in August after an agreement could not be reached between the Coalition parties.

The SNP have called for the abolition of the House of Lords, and for it to be replaced with a democratic institution accountable to the electorate. The House of Lords. In depth The automatic presence of the bishops in the House of Lords is not just a harmless legacy of a medieval constitution but a present example of discrimination, religious privilege, and undemocratic politics. Ministers working on Lords reform received more correspondence about this issue than any other.

In December , peers in the House of Lords, including from the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, spoke in a debate in favour of removing the bishops.

We have also spoken up against proposals that would retain the bishops in a smaller House of Lords, or otherwise. We have also conducted extensive research and produced detailed briefings on this matter. Get involved Write to your MP to demand the removal of bishops from the legislature You can also support Humanists UK by becoming a member. More in this section. Our campaigns ». Faith schools. We want pupils from all different backgrounds educated together in a shared environment, rather than separated according to the religious beliefs of their parents.

Find out more. We want a country where institutions such as Parliament are separate from religious organisations, and everyone is treated equally, regardless of their beliefs. Human rights and equality. As humanists, we support the right of every person to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be allowed to speak, and believe, as they wish.

Humanist marriages. Humanist marriages are currently legally recognised in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but not England and Wales. Elsewhere, couples having a humanist ceremony must also have a separate civil marriage. Abolishing the outdated and unrepresentative House of Lords offers a chance to rebalance politics away from Westminster — and create a representative Senate of the Nations and Regions.

In the House of Lords, Peers are more likely to have run a palace than have helped build one. In the current House of Lords, 29 percent of peers were politicians before entering the Lords — with the majority being former MPs. A further eight percent of peers are former political staff or held senior positions in political parties. Election is no barrier to expertise — and at the moment we have the worst of both worlds: part-time experts who rarely attend, and full-time peers who only have experience in parliament.

With around members, the House of Lords is the second largest chamber in the world, and with fresh appointments after each change of government, it can only get larger.

A fully elected second chamber would have a fixed membership, with the public deciding who has the right to stay. As independent Crossbench peers have to fit their time in the House of Lords around busy careers, the business of the house is often left to peers who are former politicians.

A proportional chamber elected by a system such as the Single Transferable Vote would mean peers would be held accountable by their constituents, not party chiefs. With the power to appoint anyone, the House of Lords could mirror the social make up of society, but this is simply not happening. Only 31 peers are under 50, and while Lords were recently been given the ability to retire, they can sit in the Lords for the rest of their life.

Female representation in the Lords has only recently reached 28 percent A fully-elected house with real diversity of party candidates would make for better scrutiny and law-making.

Want to learn more about the House of Lords? Sign up to the House of Lords Reformer to get one email a week for five weeks with fun facts, arguments and reasons behind the need for House of Lords reform. None of the 'Lords' sitting in the House have been elected by the public — they are there because of the family they were are born into or the politicians they pleased.