• Facts about the House of Lords.

The House of Lords has been partially reformed in 1999 by the removal of all the Hereditary Peers except for the 93 voted for by the Hereditary Peers themselves. The next stage of the reform remains uncertain for a number of issues. Try and lead a discussion considering the following points.

Is a Second Chamber of Parliament a good idea and why?

(consider- if a government has a large majority in the commons is it a good idea that any thing the government wants to do can go through without any delay?)

If it is a good idea who should be in it?

(Old politicians? Hereditary Peers? Social climbers? People who have made a contribution to society and clearly represent the views and understanding of various groups?If so which groups?)

Should they be elected?

(If they are elected there might be two consequences

a) They will be made up of the same sort of people as are now elected to the House of Commons

b)The second chamber might significantly weaken the Commons and there could be deadlock in legislation of the two chambers oppose each other) (Most MPs are professional people from occupations that can be left and then taken up again if they lose their seat. This means they are not very representative of the populations many of them being lawyers and solicitors etc.)