By Phil Cooper Councillors should play a pivotal role in selecting the majority of peers in a reformed House of Lords, according to the New Local Government Network (NLGN). Arguing for what it dubbed ‘Lords reform for a purpose’, the NLGN calls for up to two-thirds of a new parliamentary second chamber to be regional representatives whose numbers would reflect the political parties’ share of the vote in the preceding general election. Those responsible for choosing the new peers would be an electoral college, comprising councillors representing each region. Arguing for the change, NLGN director and former constitutional affairs minister, Chris Leslie, said: ‘Parliament is crying out for voices representing a broader cross-section of all parts of the UK, rather than the alarmingly-centralised arangements which see peers from wealthy inner-London neighbourhoods dominating the current membership.’ Commenting on the proposals, Ashford BC chief executive, David Hill, said they were not markedly different from the essential recommendation of the royal commission on Lords reform, of which he had been secretary. Although the Royal Commission did not recommend an electoral college, it did promote greater regional representation and the fact that political balance should reflect general election votes cast. ‘My slight concern is that the [NLGN] suggestion still risks too much control in the hands of political parties,’ Mr Hill told The MJ. ‘There is a danger that local political parties will be told who they should nominate.’ One way around this was to give members of the new House of Lords a longer period of tenure. ‘Perhaps over two or three electoral cycles,’ he suggested. mjnews@hgluk.com
