Voters oppose plans to put more peers in the House of Lords
2 min read
Voters are overwhelmingly opposed to plans to put new peers into a House of Lords which campaigners claim is already "bursting at the seams", according to a new poll.
The survey for the Electoral Reform Society showed that 60% of people do not support the proposals, compared to just 9% who back them.
Of those who are opposed, 59% are Tories and 63% are Labour supporters.
As many as 15 new Conservative and Labour peers are expected to be appointed to the Lords by Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn within weeks.
That would tip the size of the upper chamber - which currently has 794 members - over 800.
The poll found that 78% of voters think there are already too many Lords, compared to just 18% who think the current size is "about right".
Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said there should be a "moratorium" on new appointments to the Lords.
He said: "Clearly voters are fed up. There is overwhelming cross-party opposition to these new peerages, with both Conservative and Labour supporters opposing their leaders’ plans for extra appointments to this already-bloated house.
"The public are tired of cronyism. Packing this oversized chamber with yet more donors and ex-MPs is not going to do any good for trust in politics.
The House of Lords is already the second largest legislative chamber in the world, behind China’s National People’s Congress. There are more peers than could ever sit in the chamber at the same time, and the bulk of the work of the House is done by a much smaller group of peers.
"Both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn should cancel these planned appointments and say enough is enough. There is a lot of public anger out there – calling a halt to these costly additions would send a strong signal that the days of patronage and political favours are over.
"It’s time for a moratorium on new appointments until a clear plan of action is in place for long-overdue reform of a house that is bursting at the seams."
Last October, the Burns Report recommended reducing the size of the Lords size to 600 by adding one new peer for every two who have died or retired over a set period.
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