Replace the peers with politicians? Lord knows how that will end

Oh, the House of Lords. What a magnificent spectacle you are. £144 million of taxpayer money spent a year on what is essentially a daycare centre for failed politicians, party donors, nepo-babies and unknown political advisors, all babysat by your sleepy uncle who lets the kids wreck the house and claims £371 in daily allowances.

If you just walk out of the newly built £7.3 million entrance, you may find that it isn’t just the Palace of Westminster that has decayed, but also public perceptions of the Lords. Just 7% of the British public believe that the House of Lords should be made up of appointed members, although in all honesty, it is probably higher than the number of people who actually understand what the House does.

Why are we so set on replacing a set of Oxbridge-educated elites with more of the same?

Big deal. The unaccountable public body of appointed 71-year-olds is neither good at being accountable nor being representative of the country, and is not very popular – what a surprise! Yet what is truly staggering is the proportion of people (44%) who would prefer a ‘mostly elected’ second chamber. When confidence in the House of Commons is staggeringly low, does that not sound strange that we want more elected politicians? Is this just the British public being notoriously contradictory, or does this speak to the absurdity of our political system?

We are conditioned to only understand democracy in terms of ‘who we vote for’. We view democracy in terms of elections because we cannot picture a democratic system without one, and without the democratic legitimacy of a second chamber, we are left to be ruled by elected dictators, who are only accountable every 5-or-so years.

Over centuries, and only in their self-interest and a desire to maintain the status quo have politicians conceded and gradually expanded voting rights to property owners, the working class, and women. This sheer distrust has only disempowered ordinary people as spectators to elitist rule. So why are we so set on replacing a set of Oxbridge-educated elites with more of the same?

The alternative is clear, but our politicians are terrified by this. The mere mention of a Citizens’ Assembly triggers a delusion of a tyrannical public, the idea that an untrustworthy and uneducated public will tear at the rights of minorities by popular will. They have a point. The rights of a select few politicians to maintain an outdated orthodoxy of elections, parties and parliamentary ‘debate’ that allows them to detach themselves from reality and treat politics like a ritual will be no more.

You only have to look at Ireland to see the power ordinary people have. In spite of being a 78% Catholic country in 2016, their Citizens’ Assembly was instrumental in shaping both the opinion of elected representatives and the Irish public who voted for the abolition of the abortion ban via a referendum. Or even better, look at the Brussels Deliberative Assembly, where citizens regularly legislate collaboratively with elected politicians.

We must rebuild the framework of our democracy from scratch. Introducing a Citizens’ Assembly will not be the magic antidote that cures UK political trust, but it can be a major rebalancing tool

Compare this to our tokenistic use of a Citizens’ Assembly in 2020, whose recommendations were widely ignored by a Conservative government that treated it more as a tool to legitimise current government plans and to convince the public they were taking meaningful action. The Irish and Brussels Assemblies weren’t binding: their parliaments had no obligation to take any action, yet they didn’t have this pervading fear of the ordinary person that our politicians are paralysed by.

Why should we fear getting rid of eight hundred nosy aristocrats and replacing them with a rotating selection of ordinary citizens: teachers, care workers, builders, shop assistants – all chosen randomly by sortition? Those who bootlick the Lords point to the diversity of life expertise in the Lords – but who could possibly be more experienced than the people who keep this country running? What could be more democratic than a stratified representation of our nation? If we can trust ordinary people to understand our laws in juries, then why do we assume they are too ignorant to decide public policy?

Whilst this government sits on the fence with House of Lords reform, the foundations of liberal democracy are crumbling at its feet. Good. We must rebuild the framework of our democracy from scratch. Introducing a Citizens’ Assembly will not be the magic antidote that cures UK political trust, but it can be a major rebalancing tool that makes our elected dictators accountable and empower ordinary people. The Lords have had centuries to ponder in their red robes, but the snores of a retirement home cannot replace the beating drum of authentic voices in a democracy.