Why is there no limit to the size of the House of Lords?
I was recently asked this question by an Australian observer.
I explained that there is no fixed number of members in the House of Lords, but currently there are almost 800 active members – many more than in the House of Commons, more than the combined houses of the American Congress or the Indian Parliament (although both of these nations have a federal system), and the second biggest legislative body in the world (after the Chinese National People’s Congress which is effectively a rubber-stamping body).
The number was actually halved to 666 in the reforms of 1999 but, since then, succesive Prime Ministers have been adding new life peers much faster than members are dying. Indeed the current Government has added over 100. Ironically the size of the House of Lords continues to rise at the same time as the House of Commons has legislated to reduce its size.
There is no justification for not capping the size of the House of Lords except that political leaders do not want to limit their opportunities for patronage by nominating new peers. It is a nonsense.
You can access my short guide to the British political system here.