Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas

I’m often asked if the House of Lords are still appointing new peers given that reform of the Lords is on the cards. The answer is yes, very much so.

Let’s face it, there has been talk of reforming the Lords for over 100 years and nothing’s really changed. The vast majority of Lords don’t support the idea of an elected Upper House and say they wouldn’t stand for election to it. Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.

Since the beginning of 2014, a total of 88 new peers have been appointed and 11 of these have been independent crossbenchers i.e. peers not affiliated to any particular political party. They are people “with a record of significant achievement within their chosen way of life that demonstrates a range of experience, skills and competencies… who are able to make an effective and significant contribution to the work of the House of Lords”.

45 of the 88 new peers have been appointed over the last couple of weeks and all of them were political appointments recommended by the leaders of the three main parties. I reckon that the House of Lords Appointments Commission will want to redress the balance and invite some more independent crossbenchers on board soon. There have only been three crossbenchers appointed so far this year.

Here’s a full list of all the peers appointed since the beginning of 2014.

So, if joining the Lords as a non-party political crossbencher is your dream job, don’t be put off by talk of change and don’t think that the Lords Appointments Commission has shut its doors to fresh blood.

Watch my interview on BBC2 Daily Politics show for further information and listen to my BBC Radio 4 interview to find out more about the kind of people who would like a seat in the House of Lords.

Cheers,

Mark