In what ways is the Lords becoming more important?

Question 1

1a. How did the removal of hereditary peers in 1999, make the upper house more legitimate?
1b. Are life peers more likely to appear at Westminster?

Answer 1

1a. This is because it meant that there would be more life peers in the Lords, who gained their position thanks to their expertise in a particular field.
1b. Yes, in comparison to hereditary peers who rarely played a part.

Question 2

1. Has the reformed House become more inclined to challenge the government.

Answer 2

1. Yes, for example the Conservative government faced 241 defeats in the House of Lords, between 1979 and 1997, in comparison to the Labour government which faced 528 defeats, between 1997 and 2010.

Question 3

1. What brought an end to the dominance of the Conservatives?

Answer 3

1. The departure of most hereditary peers, meant that Conservative dominance came to an end.

Question 4

1. Which party has overall control of the House of Commons?

Answer 4

1. No party has overall control of the House of Commons.

Question 5

1a. Give an example of how Liberal Democrat peers became more independent during the New Labour government?
1b. How did they justify their disobeyal of the Salisbury convention?

Answer 5

1a. They opposed Tony Blair’s proposals for identity cards, even though Labour had announced this policy in advance.
1b. They argued that the government had been re-elected on a low share of the popular vote (35.2%).

Question 6

1. How did the formation of a coalition government in 2010, cast further doubt on whether the Salisbury convention applied?

Answer 6

1. This was due to the government programme being based on a coalition agreement, between the Conservatives and Liberals, something that had never been put to the voters.

Question 7

1a. Why are cross-bench peers playing a more important role in holding the government to account?
1b. Who would be an example of a cross-bench peer?
1c. How and when was the Health and Social Care Bill passed?

Answer 7

1a. They are neutral, so are more likely to assess a bill based on its merits, and decide accordingly whether to oppose or support the government.
1b. Lord Owen, a former doctor, played an important role in opposing the coalition government’s controversial Health and Social Care Bill.
1c. It was passed in March 2012, after the government accepted all the amendments proposed in the Lords.