To be honest I’d rather see the cronies evicted - hereditary peers not the main problem? People who have done nothing of merit or anything to improve lives in the U.K. should not be in there.
I'd have done the Lords Spiritual first, then any crony peers who haven't bothered to turn up since the first day of school. The Hereditaries will vote themselves out soon enough anyway. Make them all cross-bench.
They really, really, ought to get rid of the Bishops too. An irrational belief in the supernatural qualifying you for a legislative position only occurs in two countries: Iran and the UK.
It was long BJ's intention to destabilise the balance in the H of L, thereby easing or hindering the passage of future legislation, potentially for decades. He created, I understand, 87 peers, which is a lot.
IMO Far more urgent need to eject those enobled for services to Putin's Brexit project eg. Pond scum Fox, Stuart, Botham, etc. Not forgetting Evgeny Lebedev
Good start. It's not a democracy if you have an elegibility to directly influence legislation based purely on who your Dad was (are there even any hereditary peers who have inherited their title from their Mum?)
No hereditary titles have always passed down the male line, until the late Queen changed the royals tradition so that Princess Charlotte wouldn't be overlooked in the unlikely event both her brother & father died.
Now whether any other title families have followed suit I don't know, but they'll go.
There is an earl of Sutherland, chief of Clan Sutherland, and a duke of Sutherland. The earldom is Scottish and is heritable by women. The dukedom UK and isn't. One of the 92 (until 2020) was Margaret, countess of Marr. Pre reformation titles tend to be male preference, post are male only
None of these shackers has anything (of decency or value) to offer.
This panoply of shame does not even include e.g. BAMFORD - who infamously has cut & run - high-COVID party animal Shaun Bailey, or the daughter of towering corruption Charlotte Owen. But a literal Rogues Gallery even so.
This conclusion (on C Owen, but extending it out from there to the general issue of Johnson's ennoblements, and Johnson's corrosion of UK public life) by @arusbridger.bsky.social is eloquent & telling.
High time for this. They should also introduce some elected members, to trial the idea. Appointed members should have done something important and continue to do so. I'm thinking of Lord Arbuthnot but there are plenty of others
Comments
You'd do it by paying the lottery winners a good salary, and banning all other income or benefits in kind.
And I'd do the same with MPs as well, btw.
Boris Johnson greatly corrupted the Lords with his unworthy stooges.
Now whether any other title families have followed suit I don't know, but they'll go.
And due to marriage equality in Spain, the husband of a duke is also a duke, and the wife of a duchess is a duchess
None of these shackers has anything (of decency or value) to offer.
This panoply of shame does not even include e.g. BAMFORD - who infamously has cut & run - high-COVID party animal Shaun Bailey, or the daughter of towering corruption Charlotte Owen. But a literal Rogues Gallery even so.
Link to full piece: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/63063/if-youre-not-upset-by-charlotte-owen-you-should-be
Conclusion attached (plus ref):
Ok, when Viscount Thurso was elected to the Lords, his electorate was three people, but he was elected!