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House of Lords reform

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected second chamber if Labour win the next election. How would that work and is it a good idea?

Earlier this week Sir Keir Starmer announced that Labour would abolish the House of Lords in its first term if he is elected prime minister. He’d replace it with a new, elected second chamber. Some Tories were quick to ridicule the idea and even some Labour peers have urged Starmer to focus on more urgent domestic reforms rather than get caught up in a ‘constitutional quagmire’.

But how would Starmer's plan work in reality and is it a good idea?

Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are:

Professor Andrew Blick, Professor of Politics and Contemporary History at Kings College London
Meg Russell, Professor of British and Comparative Politics and Director of the Constitution Unit
Patrick Diamond, Associate Professor of Public Policy at Queen Mary, University of London
Jess Sargeant, Senior Researcher at The Institute for Government

Producers: Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight and Daniel Gordon
Editor: Simon Watts
Studio manager: James Beard
Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Sophie Hill

Available now

29 minutes

Broadcast

  • Thu 8 Dec 2022 20:00

Podcast