Aristocrats get £323-a-day to sit in House of Lords … on fewer than 20 votes
Labour would aim to abolish the House of Lords says Starmer
Two more hereditary toffs joined the elite House of Lords today, one securing the job-for-life with just five votes.
The election – the only electoral process involved in the House of Lords – took place after the retirement of Lord Hylton and the death of Lord Palmer earlier this year.
Lord Meston and Lord De Clifford will now join the Lords, entitled to stand in the vote by virtue of their family names and titles.
When Tony Blair abolished the hereditary House of Lords in 1999, he allowed 92 hereditary peers to continue sitting in the House, as a concession.
Whenever vacancies become available, those entitled to sit are allowed to submit their name for the contest.
READ MORE: POLL: Should the House of Lords be abolished?
13 Lords put their names forward, with Lord Meston and Lord De Clifford being elected with 11 and five votes respectively.
In his personal manifesto, Lord Meston detailed that he had been active in the House of Lords until being booted out by Tony Blair in 1999.
He pledged to “commit fully to involvement in the Lords” and said he believes “strongly in effective scrutiny of legislation and the value of Crossbench independence and objectivity”.
Lord De Clifford said he aspires “to be a committed independent, and effective member of the house”.
“I have an open mindset and the ability to listen, evaluate and understand thus bringing a broad perspective to the workings of the House”.
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The positions will entitle them to £323 every day they turn up for work.
The Electoral Reform Society has said the election “throws into stark relief the ongoing absurdity of the current House of Lords”.
Senior Director Willie Sullivan said: “Two men have effectively each been given a life-long job voting in parliament and affecting our laws due to the circumstances of their birth. These sham by-elections are merely a fig leaf covering an undemocratic and antiquated system not fit for a 21st-century democracy.
“This underlines the urgent case for reforming the Lords and replacing it with a smaller, truly elected upper chamber, where the people of this country – not small bands of aristocrats – decide who shape the laws we all live under.”
Tory constitutional expert Lord Norton has previously called for the by-election to come to an end, allowing the number of hereditary peers to slowly reduce.
Sir Keir Starmer has already vowed to abolish hereditary peers should he win the next General Election, and finish what Tony Blair started.
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