Prospect Podcast

Will Lords reform be Starmer’s legacy?

January 15, 2025
Image: Lisa Ryder / Alamy
Image: Lisa Ryder / Alamy

As Labour plans to remove the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords progress through parliament, not everybody is happy about it. Critics have called the legislation “bungled piecemeal reform”, “high-handed” and “shoddy”.

Meg Russell, professor of British and Comparative Politics at UCL, joins Ellen and Alona to unpick the conflict and controversy in the second chamber. 

She discusses the history and future of this institution, whether our system really is unique, and why the appointments process desperately needs reform.

Is this the beginning of the end of the Lords? How might our political system change forever? Will this constitutional reform be Starmer's legacy?

Plus, as some other becloaked figures have captured the nation’s attention, Ellen and Alona muse over the reality TV show Traitors: banger or dud?

To read more on the House of Lords from our website, including Meg’s writing, click here