House of Lords

avatar
Created by
Una Demick

Cards (5)

  • House of Lords
    Another way the government is held to account is through the House of Lords.
    The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. . The HOL holds the government to account by scrutinising government bills before they are formally passed in law. They are appointed due to their significant life experience and professional expertise in specific government areas to debate and critique government bills before they can become law. They have much more time to scrutinise and debate different aspects of government proposals.
  • House of Lords - EXAMPLE & ANALYSIS
    For example, in February 2025 the House of Lords published a report scrutinising the Financial Conduct Authority’s plans to ‘name and shame’ firms, stating that It is still an “abject failure” despite being watered down.
    This showcases the work they do to effectively control the failures and poor decisions of the government, highlighting them as a successful and critical body.
  • House of Lords - REBUTTAL
    However, critics of the HOL argue that a chamber that a chamber that is not democratically elected cannot possible add value to the democratic process.
    This leads to cronyism in which the government can appoint Lords and Baronesses who will support their policies.
  • House of Lords - REBUTTAL (EXAMPLE & ANALYSIS)
    For example, In 2019, Nicky Morgan lost her seat in parliament and became a peer on behalf of the conservative party to remain a member of Borris Johnsons’ cabinet.,Zac Goldsmith also lost his parliamentary seat and became a peer to continue attending as cabinet minister.
    This showcases how the government are able to gain influence in both chambers through their nominations, making the House of Lords unable to effectively scrutinise the government as it contains a significant number of people who are selected to benefit the executive.
  • House of Lords - EVALUATION
    Therefore, despite their expertise and critical work, the peers are evidently in favour of the government and allows the executive to control both Houses of Parliament, making it corrupted and therefore not able to democratically, and fairly scruitinise the work of the government.