THE presence of bishops within the House of Lords was debated on Tuesday; the Archbishop of York called for wider faith representation.
The recent Attorney-General, Lord Hermer, opened the talk. He spoke about his childhood in Wales and lifelong support for the Labour Party, and contrasted along with his father’s position as a Conservative councillor.
“Our political discussions across the family table were conducted at all times with respect and sometimes with humour. What is more, as I matured, I developed an inkling that, if I talked slightly less and listened slightly more, I would actually learn something,” he said.
At his swearing-in ceremony, the terms of the oath had, for the primary time, included a commitment to upholding the rule of law. This small step was “symbolic”, he said, of the Government’s commitment to the rule of law.
The Government’s plans to remove the 92 elected hereditary peers from the House of Lords, mustn’t be taken as an insult to the work such peers had done, Lord Hermer said; as an alternative, they must be seen as “a mirrored image of our commitment to maintaining the vitality of our democratic institutions”.
Further reforms, he revealed, would come with a compulsory retirement age of 80. As of 2020, about 150 peers were over this age.
Lord Hermer also referred to a “longer-term commitment” to replacing the House of Lords with a second chamber that’s “more representative of the regions and nations”, and promised a public consultation on the proposals.
In a response to Lord Helmer, the Conservative life peer Lord Keen suggested that the “most immediate constitutional issue” was “the imbalance of power between Parliament and a mighty Executive”, and never the make-up of the House of Lords.
He asked why hereditary peers were the main focus somewhat than the 26 Lords Spiritual, a situation that, he said, “appears more anomalous and maybe more in need of reform”.
When Archbishop Cottrell spoke, he didn’t dwell on questions on the part played by the bishops, but did say that the Lords Spiritual “think that other faith communities could possibly be higher represented as well”.
He focused on “rebuilding trust in democracy”, referring to “alarming statistics” about participation within the General Election: that turnout was lower in constituencies with the bottom proportion of home ownership, and that an estimated 400,000 people were turned away at polling stations because they didn’t have voter ID.
He welcomed plans for further devolution, which, he said, “shifts perspective”, and in addition Lord Helmer’s characterisation of governance as service, which, he said, was vital for constructing trust.
Archbishop Cottrell also signalled his support for the Labour Party’s manifesto pledge to scale back the voting age to 16. The King’s Speech made reference to measures to “encourage wide participation within the democratic process”, but Lord Helmer made no explicit mention of the policy in his speech.
Lord Wallace of Saltaire, a Liberal Democrat peer, referred to the dearth of specifics, and called for such a policy to be brought forward, together with automatic voter registration.
Lord Wallace also criticised Lord Keen, suggesting that his party’s concern in regards to the power of the manager branch had not been expressed once they were actually in government.
The real imbalance, he suggested, was between Conservative peers and people of other parties. Out of 790 current members, 273 are aligned with the Conservative Party.
One of the remaining hereditary peers, the Earl of Kinnoull, who sits as a cross-bencher, said that of “three unfairnesses” within the make-up of the Lords, the “unlimited and unfettered power” that the Prime Minister has to make appointments was more of a priority than the presence of bishops and hereditary peers.
