Starmer unveils plan to ‘abolish House of Lords’ in bid to ‘restore trust in politics’

Sir Keir Starmer will abolish the House of Lords if he is elected prime minister. The Labour leader said this would help “restore trust in politics”.

Sir Keir is understood to believe the upper house should be replaced by a new elected chamber in a major constitutional overhaul.

He, quoted in the Observer, has complained that public trust in the British political system has been knocked by the handing of peerages by Tory administrations to “lackeys and donors”.

The Labour leader last week told peers: “I want to be clear that we do need to restore the trust of the public in every part of the United Kingdom in our system of government.

“House of Lords reform is just one part of that…

“People have lost faith in the ability of politicians and politics to bring about change – that is why, as well as fixing our economy, we need to fix our politics.”

Sir Keir added that the new elected chamber would have to be “truly representative” of the UK’s nations and regions.

Conservative commentator Christian Calgie has, however, commented that such reform would only work to further erode public faith in the UK’s political system.

Responding to the news, he wrote in a post on Twitter: “If your goal were to destroy any ability to get things done in politics and kill off any remaining public faith in the system, the number one thing you would do is replace the House of Lords with an elected upper chamber.”

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Sir Keir told Labour peers that abolishing the Lords forms part of his mission of “promoting inclusive growth and restoring trust in politics”.

He reportedly pointed to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s appointment of “lackeys and donors” to the upper chamber.

Among those recently appointed to the Lords by the Conservative Party is Michael Hintze, a Tory party donor.

Writer and historian James Heartfield described Sir Keir’s plan as “surreal”.

He wrote in a post on Twitter: “Surreal that Sir Keir, who helped organise a rearguard action in the House of Lords to block the vote on Brexit, is now posing as the man who will abolish the House.”

Labour parliamentary candidate Faiza Shaheen said, however, she was “so happy” to see the reported plan.

She wrote in a post on Twitter: “The Lords is archaic, elitist, and undemocratic.”