Latest news with #democraticdisparity
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Nigel Farage demands Keir Starmer gives him some Reform UK peers in the House of Lords as he blasts 'democratic disparity'
Nigel Farage is demanding he be allowed to nominate some Reform UK peers to the House of Lords for the first time. The Reform leader has hit out at a 'democratic disparity' that sees his party have no representation in Parliament's unelected upper chamber. This is despite Reform having four MPs and controlling a slew of local councils. In a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, seen by The Times, Mr Farage pointed out how other parties with a small number of MPs had been able to nominate peers. Mr Farage also noted how Reform won more than 4.1 million votes at last year's general election, and has led in national opinion polls for many months. 'The Greens, DUP, Plaid Cymru and UUP have 13 peers between them, but Reform UK has none,' he wrote. 'The time has come to address the democratic disparity that exists in the upper house.' The Greens have four MPs in the House of Commons and two peers in the Lords, the DUP have five MPs and six peers, and the UUP have one MP and three peers. Reform figures such as Ann Widdecombe, the ex-Tory MP, Nick Candy, a billionaire donor, and Zia Yusuf, Reform's ex-chairman, are potential candidates for the Lords. Tory peer Lord Norton of Louth, a constitutional expert, said there was a 'case for minor parties like Reform to have representation in the Lords' but this was up to Sir Keir. 'The PM is the only person who writes the rules on this as it stands,' he said. 'Historically appointments to the House of Lords were in the gift of the Crown but that function has been passed to the prime minister. 'So any decision on whether to create Reform peers would rest with him alone.' Lord O'Donnell, the former cabinet secretary, said: 'It is a feature of our system that the PM can appoint whoever they like to the House of Lords. 'It is an area where I think we need greater checks and balances.' But Lord Hayward, the Tory peer and election expert, said: 'Just because Reform has a few MPs and is doing well in the opinion polls that does not mean that they are an established credible party that should be represented in the House of Lords. 'I think Starmer is entirely within his rights to wait and see how Reform actually does over the next few years before making a decision.' In December last year, Sir Keir appointed 30 new Labour peers - including a string of ex-MPs and his sacked chief of staff Sue Gray - to the House of Lords. At the same time, the Tories had six new peers appointed to the Lords - including former deputy PM Therese Coffey - while the Liberal Democrats got two new peers. Defence Secretary John Healey this morning highlighted how Mr Farage had previously called for the Lords to be scrapped. He told Times Radio: 'This is the same Nigel Farage that called for the abolition of the House of Lords and now wants to fill it with his cronies. 'But look, I'm not sure that Parliament is going to be benefiting from more Putin apologists like Nigel Farage, to be honest.'
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Farage urges Starmer to appoint Reform peers to House of Lords
Nigel Farage has called for the right to nominate Reform UK supporters to the House of Lords, claiming this would address a 'democratic disparity'. In a letter to Keir Starmer, the Reform leader said it was unfair that other smaller parties, including the Greens, had peers in the upper chamber but his party did not, despite attracting more votes in the general election last year. In what Farage described as a 'modest request', he said it was time that Reform was represented in the House of Lords. He wrote: 'Reform UK wishes to appoint life peers to the upper house at the earliest possible opportunity.' Political appointments to the Lords are made at the discretion of the prime minister, who is under no constitutional obligation to elevate opposition figures to the Lords. But under political convention, No 10 invites opposition leaders to nominate candidates for peerages. Downing Street has yet to respond to Farage's demand. His letter, first reported in the Times, said: 'My party received over 4.1m votes at the general election in July 2024. We have since won a large number of seats in local government, led in the national opinion polls for many months and won the only byelection of this parliament.' Farage's demand has renewed calls to replace the House of Lords with an elected second chamber – something Starmer promised when he was elected Labour leader in 2020. Farage wrote: 'While Reform UK believes in a reformed House of Lords, the time has come to address the democratic disparity that exists in the upper house.' His letter added: 'The Greens, DUP, Plaid Cymru, and UUP have 13 peers between them but Reform UK has none. Furthermore, the Liberal Democrats now have 76 peers but received 600,000 fewer votes than Reform UK in July last year. 'None of this holds water any longer, given the seismic shifts that have taken place in British politics.' Natalie Bennett, a former Green party leader who was made a life peer in 2019, tweeted: 'Sir Keir could respond by going for a fully elected upper house, as @TheGreenParty long calling for.' Labour's manifesto promised 'immediate reforms' of the Lords in advance of a longer-term ambition to replace the Lords with an alternative second chamber. So far, the government has only legislated to abolish hereditary peers. Starmer has backed away from a Labour commission led by Gordon Brown to replace the Lords with an elected assembly of the nations and regions.
BBC News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Nigel Farage urges PM to appoint Reform peers to House of Lords
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called on the prime minister to allow him to appoint peers to the House of Lords. In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Farage said he wanted "the democratic disparity" in the upper chamber to be addressed, suggesting it was unfair that parties with fewer MPs were has four MPs in the House of Commons and controls ten councils in England, but currently has no appointments to the Lords are made at the discretion of the prime minister. Downing Street has been approached for comment. The House of Lords is a part of Parliament. It scrutinises the work of government and is independent from the House of Commons, where MPs sit. Members of the Lords are called peers. Like MPs, they scrutinise the work of government and recommend changes to proposed legislation. There are currently more than his letter, Farage said: "My party received over 4.1 million votes at the general election in July 2024. We have since won a large number of seats in local government, led the national opinion polls for many months and won the only by-election of this Parliament."Farage added that he was in favour of reforming the Lords, but that "the time has come to address the democratic disparity that exists in the upper house".He noted that the Green Party, Plaid Cymru and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) have 13 peers between also pointed out that the Liberal Democrats have 76 peers, despite winning fewer votes than Reform at the previous election. The Lib Dems currently hold 72 seats in the Commons, making them the third largest party after Labour and the Conservatives."None of this holds water any longer given the seismic shifts that have taken place in British politics," Farage said his request to appoint peers was "modest", but did not outline who he would nominate if given the opportunity to do May, Reform made sweeping gains in local elections, as well as winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six success led Farage to claim that Reform UK was now the main opposition prime minister is under no constitutional obligation to elevate members of opposition parties, but will often ask opposition leaders to nominate individuals for December, Sir Keir appointed 30 new Labour peers, including his former chief of staff Sue Gray. The Conservatives appointed six new peers, while the Liberal Democrats appointed year, MPs backed plans to get rid of hereditary peers from the House of Lords.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nigel Farage urges PM to appoint Reform peers to House of Lords
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called on the prime minister to allow him to appoint peers to the House of Lords. In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Farage said he wanted "the democratic disparity" in the upper chamber to be addressed, suggesting it was unfair that parties with fewer MPs were represented. Reform has four MPs in the House of Commons and controls ten councils in England, but currently has no peers. Political appointments to the Lords are made at the discretion of the prime minister. Downing Street has been approached for comment. The House of Lords is a part of Parliament. It scrutinises the work of government and is independent from the House of Commons, where MPs sit. Members of the Lords are called peers. Like MPs, they scrutinise the work of government and recommend changes to proposed legislation. There are currently more than 800. In his letter, Farage said: "My party received over 4.1 million votes at the general election in July 2024. We have since won a large number of seats in local government, led the national opinion polls for many months and won the only by-election of this Parliament." Farage added that he was in favour of reforming the Lords, but that "the time has come to address the democratic disparity that exists in the upper house". He noted that the Green Party, Plaid Cymru and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) have 13 peers between them. He also pointed out that the Liberal Democrats have 76 peers, despite winning fewer votes than Reform at the previous election. The Lib Dems currently hold 72 seats in the Commons, making them the third largest party after Labour and the Conservatives. "None of this holds water any longer given the seismic shifts that have taken place in British politics," Farage said. Farage said his request to appoint peers was "modest", but did not outline who he would nominate if given the opportunity to do so. In May, Reform made sweeping gains in local elections, as well as winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes. That success led Farage to claim that Reform UK was now the main opposition party. The prime minister is under no constitutional obligation to elevate members of opposition parties, but will often ask opposition leaders to nominate individuals for peerage. In December, Sir Keir appointed 30 new Labour peers, including his former chief of staff Sue Gray. The Conservatives appointed six new peers, while the Liberal Democrats appointed two. Last year, MPs backed plans to get rid of hereditary peers from the House of Lords. What is the House of Lords and how does it work? Hereditary Lords speak out on prospect of leaving Parliament
