The Road To Wigan Peers

Even leaving aside the Lib Dems, this year's was the fourth General Election in succession to deliver a Government committed to a wholly or predominantly elected second chamber. It was the first ever to have that as a manifesto pledge on the part of all three parties. But the House of Lords is only the grandest example of something about which Oppositions always complain, but which no Government would ever change, namely the array of patronage appointments at Government's disposal. So we learn to today, to no one's even vague surprise, that the Coalition intends to name 44 new Peers.

Fine. But let us see if we cannot come up with, say, 10 or 12 names of potential Cross Benchers who were able to subscribe to this, before submitting it, with all accompanying documentation, to the House of Lords Appointments Commission as well as to the media. Most obviously, though by no means necessarily, these would be drawn from among men who would have been MPs this time round, but who were prevented on grounds of sex, as well as grounds of daring to be interested in politics.

As for the cry that you have to be an Independent to be a People's Peer, there are two answers to that. The first is that one person appointed as such is now a Government Whip, which in the Lords includes answering questions on behalf of Departments of State without a Minister in that House, so that we may reasonably assume him to have been a Labour Party member throughout his adult life and to have been ennobled on that understanding, though via the People's Peer provision and even sitting as a Cross Bencher until his later appointment. The other is that if you are still in a party that treats you like this, then more fool you.