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The House of Lords is Britain's only effective opposition. Discuss. - page 2
Keywords: house of lords britain uk opposition role
By exploiit on 19/06/2010
Level: A Level (Year 12) / AS Level
Page Number: 2 of 4 pages: 1 2 3 4system has made room for a much more representative House. Politically, power has been allocated generously to all parties, including Liberal Democrats, independents, etc. and does not appear to support a pseudo Labour versus Conservative House. Labour enjoys a vote of only 29% in the Lords, as opposed to a staggering 54% in the Commons, and crossbench peers hold a balance with Labour, with a 28% share of votes. As well as this, peers within the House represent separate backgrounds, beliefs, etc. For example, Lord Ahmed who is a Muslim, Lord Alli who is gay and black, and Baroness Amos who is a black woman. This all-inclusive body makes the House of Lords all the more effective in its role of opposition against the government.
As life peers, members of the House of Lords have nothing to loose by acting impartially and ignoring party prejudice. This is another critical component in the Lords that affects its powers of opposition. Unlike in the Commons where MPs are willing to obey party rules, peers in the Lords have no reason to follow orders. Acting personally and not party politically will not lose them any title; it will only offer fair and effective scrutiny and opposition.
In comparison to the first House, the Lords also has an advantage in debates and committee meetings with the allowance to call for people or evidence at any time.
The level of experience within the House is probably the most imperative component in understanding its level of opposition to the government. On average, a peer in the Lords is 69 years of age which means that peers are rich in collective life experience and are also more in touch with public opinion than their counterparts in the House of Commons. This has a lot to do with the system on which peers are appointed. Although criticism often arises on the appointment of peers, it is difficult to argue that all peers are unfairly nominated and initiated into the House. Many are appointed based on a particular criterion, which is primarily concerned with political, economic or social experience. For example, Lord Bragg has copious amount of experience in media and broadcasting; As Head of British Petroleum, Lord Browne is useful in environmental debates regarding climate change, etc. Peers such as these, with experience behind them, further supply evidence to the idea that the House of Lords is, in fact, the only
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